Triple murderer who asked for early release after 35 years behind bars has sentence INCREASED by 20 years by parole board: 'punishment too lax by current standards'

Photo: Timothy Pauley

Timothy Pauley (pictured), 57, was convicted of three murders at a tavern near Seatac, Washington, in 1980

 Timothy Pauley, 57, received three life sentences for killing three people at a tavern near Seatac, Washington with an accomplice in 1980
  Department of Corrections review board denied his early release request added more than 20 years to his sentence instead

Pauley's role was 'egregious' and his punishment too lax by current standards  - Parole Board
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A convicted triple murderer who asked for early release will now spend more than 20 additional years in prison after a board reviewed his sentence.

Timothy Pauley, 57, received three life sentences after killing three people with an accomplice at a tavern near Seatac, in Washington State, on June 12, 1980.

He asked to be set free earlier than planned last year after 35 years in prison, as state legislation allow inmates who committed crimes before 1984 to request parole.

But instead of reducing Pauley's sentence, the Department of Corrections' Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board found he should spend at least two additional decades behind bars, the Seattle Times reported

Members of the review board said Pauley's role in the murder was 'egregious' and that his original sentence didn't meet current standards for similar crimes.

Pauley said earlier this year during a hearing that he panicked as he and another man, Scott Smith, attempted to rob the Barn Door Tavern near Seatac, King5 reported at the time.

He and Smith killed Loran Dowell, the tavern’s night manager, Robert Pierre, the bartender, and Linda Burford, a former waitress and Pierre’s girlfriend, the Seattle Times wrote.

Dowell and Pierre were shot in the head while they were tied up in a walk-in cooler and Burford was found raped and hanging from a railing by her neck.

Two more women were left for dead in a restroom and survived after being choked with electrical cords.

Smith, Pauley’s co-defendant, was sentenced to five life terms after being convicted of three murder counts and two assault counts. He is not being considered for early release.

'Mr. Pauley’s role in the murders was egregious,' the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board said in a statement related by the Seattle Times.

'He had the gun and was responsible for shooting the male victims to death despite the fact that they were already tied up in the cooler and posed no threat to Mr. Pauley or his co-defendant.'

Earlier this year, Pauley told members of the board he had shot the two men due to his struggles with depression, alcohol and drugs and said Smith had committed the third murder, King5 reported.

'I could have put a stop to it right then. I could have walked out but I didn't,' Pauley said.

'I walked past the cooler door, I panicked, I opened the door and I shot these two men. Then I went running out to the car.

'I realize I've done these people some irreparable harm and I'm terribly sorry' 

One of Dowell's two daughters told King5 : 'I realize that 35 years is a king time, but it's not long enough.'

Pauley will not be able to seek parole until 2031 following the review board's decision. 

Photo: Inmateaid

Pauley, who is currently an inmate at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington State (file picture), applied for early release but his sentence was increased by 20 years instead. Members of the review board found his role in the murders was 'egregious' and wanted his sentence to match current standards

Credit: seattletimes
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