Burien man sentenced to nearly 100 years for murder of 3 men

A 29-year-old Burien man who shot and killed his boss and two others more than five years ago was sentenced Friday to more than 97 years in prison.

Tony Smith was convicted of three counts of first degree murder with a firearm in connection with the deaths of Francisco Santos-Rojas, 24, his 16-year-old nephew, Edgar Santos and Ruben Fuentes, 24. The three were slain Jan. 3, 2003, in an SUV parked on the West Valley Highway in Kent.

Santos-Rojas was shot as he was sleeping in the passenger seat. Santos and Fuentes were killed because they witnessed the slaying, court charging documents say.

Smith had been working for Santos-Rojas for several months, chauffeuring him on drug-buying trips, according to charging papers. But, Smith had begun to feel uneasy about the arrangement after he claimed that Santos-Rojas threatened to kill him, court documents said.

Three days after the slaying, police recovered two handguns, two pit bulls, marijuana and more than $1,600 in cash from Smith's apartment.

In June 2007, King County Superior Court Judge George Mattson dismissed the jury pool in Smith's case after one juror made comments in front of other jurors that raised a question about her objectivity.

The case was tried earlier this year.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com