Charlene Dorcy

Overview

Charlene Dorcy, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in a plea deal. She was sentenced to 63 years in prison on May 26, 2005.

Timeline

• June 14, 2004 — Charlene Dorcy fatally shot her preschool-age daughters, Jessica (4) and Brittney (2), and led detectives to their bodies at an abandoned rock pit in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
• October — A Skamania County judge ordered Charlene Dorcy committed to a hospital and treated with anti-psychotic medication for six months after questions were raised about her competence to stand trial.
• May 26, 2005 — Charlene Dorcy was sentenced to 63 years in prison.
• May 27, 2005 — Charlene Dorcy’s guilty plea was described as part of a plea deal that would send her to prison for 63 years.

The offence

Charlene Dorcy killed her two daughters, Jessica (4) and Brittney (2), with a rifle last June in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Dorcy later told investigators she had shot her daughters multiple times with her husband’s .22-caliber rifle. She also told officers she had taken her two children to the Wind River recreation area, where she shot and killed them.

Neighbors said Dorcy had once suggested she might be thinking about killing her daughters, including a conversation where she asked a neighbor what they would think of her “as a Christian” if she killed her kids. Another neighbor described Dorcy as battling her temper and appearing controlling and very protective of her daughters.

Investigation

After Dorcy’s killings, detectives found the bodies of the two young girls at a southwestern Washington rock pit after Dorcy called police to say she had killed them.

Charlene Dorcy led Clark County and Skamania County sheriff’s detectives to an abandoned rock pit off forest road 30 (about 33 miles northeast of Carson, Washington). Investigators found the bodies at the old rock pit near Lone Butte. Authorities believed Dorcy drove her daughters nearly two hours from their home in Hazel Dell, near Vancouver, to the deserted rock pit.

Dorcy’s statement to investigators included that she had shot her daughters multiple times with her husband’s .22-caliber rifle.

Investigators asked that anyone who was in the Lone Butte area of Skamania County on Saturday afternoon and has information about the case call (509) 427-8783.

Arrest / custody

Dorcy was held in the Skamania County Jail in Stevenson for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder. She was on suicide watch. No court appearance had been scheduled at the time described.

Trial / competency

The case against Dorcy was postponed several times because of questions regarding her competence to stand trial.

In October, a Skamania County judge ordered her committed to a hospital and treated with anti-psychotic medication for six months. After the treatment, doctors asserted she was competent.

During Thursday’s court hearing, Dorcy delivered a rambling statement that talked about injustices against animals and Jews, but did not mention her children.

“Unless you are a vegetarian, every time you eat meat you’re a murderer,”

“I know how they feel,”

Skamania County Prosecutor Peter Banks said:

“One thing we’ve never heard from her is that she’s sorry.”

Banks also said:

“I have no doubt she knew that what she was doing was wrong,”

Plea and sentencing

Charlene Dorcy pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in a plea deal.

At the time described, Dorcy had originally been charged with aggravated murder, which could have carried a sentence of life in prison without parole, or else the death sentence. Prosecutors decided not to pursue the death penalty.

By pleading guilty to the lesser charges, Dorcy still faced the bulk of her life in prison, and avoided the emotional toil of a long trial as described.

Her attorney, Chris Lanz, commented that she would still spend the bulk of her life in prison but avoided the emotional toil of a long trial.

Asked by reporters whether his client felt remorse, Lanz replied:

“She did shed tears – the cause of those emotions only she can know,”

Sentencing resulted in a term of 63 years in prison.

Skamania County Prosecutor Peter Banks said the earliest Dorcy could be released is at the age of 95, effectively a life sentence.

Appeals / outcome

Charlene Dorcy’s guilty plea and resulting sentence of 63 years in prison were reported as the outcome of the case.

Other details

Charlene Dorcy was 39 years old at the time of reporting.

Her husband, Robert Dorcy (45), said she stopped taking medication for paranoid schizophrenia in favor of herbal remedies because of concern about side effects.

Neighbors described Dorcy living with her husband, Robert, and their two daughters on a cul-de-sac ringed with duplexes filled with children.

Neighbor Crystal Cates said Dorcy’s conversation with her led Cates to report it to state Child Protective Services, and that officials declined to intervene. CPS spokeswoman Kathy Spears said the Department of Social and Health Services would investigate to determine whether there were any records on the children, and what exactly had been reported. Spears also said legally “the child has to be at immediate risk of harm” to trigger a CPS investigation, and described that it could involve someone seeing severe marks, broken bones or violence.

Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown said:

“Our hearts are ripped out like anybody else’s. We have children, we are parents and cannot fathom for a moment ever doing something like this … it digs deep inside and tears us up,”

Investigators planned to speak with Dorcy’s husband before commenting on her mental state.

Dorcy called her sister-in-law from a pay telephone about an hour after the murder to confess to the crime, and then drove to a police station in Vancouver and asked to lead detectives to her children’s bodies.