Killer freed, thanks to ruling

After three decades in prison, Ross Renecker can thank the state Supreme Court for his release today. Others aren't so grateful.

Incarcerated since 1977 for the abduction and murder of a Seattle woman, his requests for parole were repeatedly turned down by authorities who never wavered in their belief that Renecker — who has a history of misconduct behind bars — remains dangerous.

But a Supreme Court ruling six years ago gave Renecker, 61, a chance at freedom. Known as the Andress decision, it invalidated hundreds of murder convictions statewide.

His was one of the oldest. With almost all the witnesses dead or long retired, Renecker cut a deal with Yakima County prosecutors in 2005 that for the first time gave him a fixed release date — Jan. 20, 2008.

The date must have seemed like a long time away 2 ½ years ago. Renecker had lung cancer, and prosecutors thought he would probably die before being released.

He didn't. And, as of today, he's free for the first time in more than 30 years, with no strings attached. No parole officer, no halfway house, no drug tests.

Release feared

It's too much for Scott Stubberfield, whose mother, Fran, was abducted by Renecker and beaten to death with a rock.

"You know, I really worry that he's going to hurt someone else someday," said Stubberfield, a Puget Sound-area schoolteacher.

Renecker was 31 in 1977; he had a history of rape, assault and robbery and was no stranger to hard time.

Frances Stubberfield, a sales clerk and mother of three adult children, spent her last Thanksgiving volunteering at a homeless shelter.

Two days later, they encountered one another in the parking lot of a restaurant in White Center.

The next day, her body was found in the back of her car off a dead-end road just east of Yakima. Renecker was asleep in the front seat, drunk. He was covered in blood.

Renecker pleaded guilty to a form of second-degree murder called felony murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

Problems behind bars

Because his case predated state sentencing guidelines, Renecker came under the jurisdiction of the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board, which essentially serves as a parole board, with the power to keep him imprisoned for life.

And that's what it wanted. Years after most inmates would have been set free, the board refused to release Renecker, citing his criminal history, the brutality of the murder, and his frequent problems behind bars.

But while the board continued to deny Renecker parole, the Supreme Court's Andress ruling changed that.

The decision, named for a King County defendant, held that assault without proof of intent to kill could not serve as the basis for a second-degree murder conviction.

The Legislature quickly amended the law. But a year later, the high court made the Andress decision retroactive, forcing prosecutors to retry hundreds of cases statewide.

In Renecker's case, they wrangled another plea. But, for the first time, it included a release date.

Jeri Costa, chairwoman of the review board, said Renecker never would have gotten a fixed release date if not for the Andress decision.

For years, Renecker denied abducting Stubberfield, instead claiming she'd agreed to give him a ride back to Yakima and that he killed her in a drunken rage.

But in recent years, he admitted to the review board that he'd forced Stubberfield into her car, that he so intimidated her that she didn't try to escape during a routine traffic stop by the State Patrol on Interstate 90 near North Bend, and that he intended to rape her once they got to Yakima.

"There were significant concerns about his risk," Costa said.

Those concerns found their way to the Attorney General's Office, which forced Renecker to be evaluated as a possible sexually violent predator, a designation that would have allowed authorities to lock him up for life.

The evaluation came back negative.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections said Renecker, who has been assigned to the penitentiary in Walla Walla, has told officials he is moving to Arizona after his release.

"Law enforcement in that area is aware he's coming," Peterson said. "That's really all we can do. He maxed out."

Chris Bristol can be reached

at cbristol@yakimaherald.com.