OLYMPIA, Wash. - On Friday, Gov Jay Inslee issued an order canceling parole for Timothy Pauley who is currently serving life for three counts of first-degree murder.
In a statement, Inslee said he was canceling the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board's order because he is troubled by Pauley's failure to "demonstrate both a full acceptance of his responsibility and remorse" and apologize to the victims and their families.
Timothy Pauley was 21 when he and associate Steven Smith robbed the Barn Door Tavern in King County, tying up three women and two men, forcing the men into a walk-in cooler and executing them with a revolver. One of the women was strangled by a cord used to tie her to a post.
Despite opposition from the victims' families, the state's Indeterminate Sentence Review Board last month unanimously found Pauley rehabilitated and eligible for parole, following a hearing at which he noted he had completed years of counseling for drug and alcohol abuse and for post-traumatic stress disorder for a workplace injury he suffered before the killings.
"We wanted him to know that we are still here and we are not giving up and we are still fighting for our mother, and also for our father, and everybody else that he’s affected that night," Angie Dowell said during a 2019 hearing in which Pauley was petitioning for early release. Her father Loran Dowell was one of the three people killed.
Pauley told the board he panicked during the killings; didn't know why he shot the men, Loren Dowell and Robert Pierre; and that he wanted to be known for something more than his horrible crime.
The governor returned the case to the sentence review board for further proceedings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.