PORT HADLOCK — An attorney representing admitted murderer Ryan Neil Sorensen will ask for a shorter prison sentence for his client, saying Sorensen was mentally ill when he killed his former father-in-law earlier this year.
Sorensen, 31, of Spanish Fork, Utah, pleaded guilty last month to gunning down Port Hadlock wrecking yard operator Frank M. “Skip” Smith Jr. at Smith’s business April 29.
Because of Sorensen’s mental state, he should be sentenced to “35 years and not a day less,” Davies wrote in papers filed in court Tuesday.
That’s up to 50 years less than the prison time sought in a state Department of Corrections report.
Both motions will be heard Thursday when Sorensen will be sentenced at 10 a.m. in Jefferson County Superior Court, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
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The rest of the story appears in the Wednesday Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition.