Holly Grigsby

Case record: Holly Grigsby

Status

Holly Grigsby was sentenced to life in prison without parole on July 15, 2014.

Background

Holly Grigsby was 27 years old when she was sentenced. She apologized in federal court to friends and relatives of the victims and stated that any explanation for her actions, such as her drug addiction, would come across as an excuse or would make her feel like she was rationalizing her own “insane behavior.” She expressed no regret for white-supremacist beliefs and regretted the effect her crimes would have on their public perception.

Grigsby’s family and friends had been shocked and in disbelief that she would participate in the alleged crimes. Her mother, Erlene Onofrichuk, said “This is not her,” and said Grigsby was “a good person” and that no one would believe it.

Onofrichuk said Grigsby had been set on meeting requirements placed on her by authorities and the Department of Human Services in order to keep her son.

Grigsby posted statements on Facebook about her devotion to her son and about “the 14 words” and “the path of the Gods.” Onofrichuk also said that Grigsby met David “Joey” Pedersen through a mutual friend and that he was like-minded; Onofrichuk said Pedersen’s multiple anti-Semitic and white-supremacist tattoos mirrored Grigsby’s leanings. Larson said she told him he would like Pedersen because he had a deep knowledge of National Socialism and World War II.

Onofrichuk said she “just can't wrap my head all around this.” She said “I'm terribly sorry, from the bottom of my heart and soul, I'm sorry for that mom,” and she said she was sorry for “all the families” and for Myers’ mother.

The offence

Grigsby took part in a Pacific Northwest killing rampage across three states that included the deaths of an Everett couple, an Oregon teenager and a California man.

The sentencing memorandum described the killings as part of a white-supremacist “revolution” planned for September 2011 and aimed at targeting Jewish organizations. The plan involved traveling across state lines seeking targets, and it was financed with stolen credit cards and vehicles.

Court documents described the effort as attempting to “purify” and “preserve” the white race and as targeting people for their race, color, religion or perceived “degenerate” conduct. Grigsby told officers they were on their way to Sacramento to “kill more Jews.”

Victims and allegations

The killings involved:

• David “Red” Pedersen
• Leslie “Dee Dee” Pedersen
• Cody Myers, 19
• Reginald Alan Clark, 53

Grigsby and David “Joey” Pedersen were arrested in 2011 after the deaths of four people.

Investigation and apprehension

A California Highway Patrol officer spotted Grigsby and Pedersen in Myers’ car and arrested them in northern California on Oct. 5, 2011, outside Yuba City, Calif.

During a five-hour videotaped interview described in court documents, Grigsby told investigators details about the killings and told them where to find Pedersen’s father’s vehicle and body. She also said she had been the one to kill Pedersen’s stepmother by slashing her throat with two knives.

Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said officers had not yet looked into molestation allegations but planned to do so, and he said evidence collected so far indicated much of Grigsby’s story could be plausible.

Arrest, charges, and plea

In 2011, Grigsby and her boyfriend, David “Joey” Pedersen, were arrested after the deaths of four people.

Grigsby pleaded guilty in March to racketeering charges connected to the four killings. The plea agreement called for a life sentence with no chance for release.

In August 2012, Grigsby was arraigned in U.S. District Court on federal charges linked to a 10-day crime spree in Washington, Oregon and California in which four people died. She pleaded not guilty through her attorney, Kathleen Correll, in front of Magistrate Judge Paul Papak. Grigsby’s estranged husband, Dannel Larson, held their 3-year-old son in the 10th floor courtroom and the son started to cry.

Grigsby faced 14 counts of racketeering, kidnapping, carjacking and other charges related to the death of four people last September and October. Pedersen was also charged in the federal indictment. The federal indictment accused the couple of killing four people as part of a white-power campaign to kidnap and murder people based on race, color, religion or perceived “degenerate” conduct. The indictment said they were trying to “purify” and “preserve” the white race.

The state charges against Grigsby were dismissed when she agreed to be extradited to Oregon to face the federal charges. Mark Roe, Snohomish County prosecuting attorney, dismissed the state charges when Grigsby agreed to be extradited. At that time, she was being held in Columbia County Jail.

In October 2011, Pedersen and Grigsby pleaded not guilty to charges of weapons possession and vehicle theft.

Timeline

• Sept. 26, 2011 — Pedersen shot his father, David “Red” Pedersen, in the back of the head while the elder Pedersen was driving; investigators said Pedersen and Grigsby returned to the house afterward, and Dee Dee Pedersen was bound with duct tape, cut in the neck and left to bleed to death.
• Sept. 28, 2011 — Leslie “Dee Dee” Pedersen’s body was discovered; her hands were bound with duct tape and a bloody pillow was found by her head.
• Oct. 1, 2011 — Cody Faye Myers, 19, was shot to death near Newport.
• Oct. 3, 2011 — Reginald Alan Clark, 53, was killed in Eureka, Calif.
• Oct. 5, 2011 — Grigsby and Pedersen were arrested outside Yuba City, Calif., when a California Highway Patrol officer spotted them; Grigsby told officers they were on their way to Sacramento to “kill more Jews.”
• March (year not specified) — Grigsby pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering in connection with the murders and related offenses.
• Aug. 4 (year not specified) — Pedersen was scheduled to be sentenced at an Aug. 4 hearing in federal court.
• July 15, 2014 — Grigsby was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Trial

District Court and pleaded not guilty through her attorney, Kathleen Correll.

In October 2011, Pedersen and Grigsby were facing extradition proceedings; they waived extradition on Tuesday and were expected in court for an extradition hearing.

Sentencing

On July 15, 2014, Senior U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty sentenced Grigsby, 27 years old, to life in prison without parole.

Because federal prison has no parole program, Grigsby would remain behind bars until she died.

Court statements and quotations at sentencing

Grigsby said:

“or make it feel like I’m rationalizing my own insane behavior.”

Grigsby said:

“My actions have further damaged the reputation of a movement misunderstood,”
“I deeply regret this.”

Grigsby also said:

“Although I had nothing but the best of intentions, the bridge to Valhalla is not paved with good intentions”
“but with one's actions and heart”

The statement attributed to Dee Dee Pedersen’s daughter, Lori Nemitz, included:

“How dare you go into my mother's home where she welcomed you as family,”
“I hugged you, for God's sake,”
“beyond heinous, beyond cruel.”

Nemitz also said:

“I cannot imagine a person that would do that to an innocent woman who welcomes you as family,”

Catherine Hix, a spokeswoman for another daughter, told Grigsby:

“a wicked, heartless viper. You slithered into town with only one thing in mind – murder.”

Holly Perez, the daughter of Red Pedersen and sister of Joey Pedersen, said:

“Separately, you and Joey are nothing but two cowards with a skewed ideology,”
and Perez also said the impact extended to Grigsby’s own family, saying Grigsby would never be able to hold her own young son in her arms ever again.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

Grigsby received a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Other details

Apologies and views

Grigsby apologized for her actions but not her views, stating she realized that explanations such as her drug addiction would come across as an excuse or rationalization.

She said:

Grigsby expressed no regret for her white-supremacist beliefs.

White-supremacist affiliation

Prosecutors said Grigsby had been a white supremacist since her early teens and did not fall under Pedersen’s spell.

A quote attributed to Grigsby on Facebook read:

“every jewish lie and every jewish slander is a scar of honor on the chest of a warrior.”

Grigsby’s mother said Grigsby had written:

“my son Danny, he's my little aryan warrior, and my husband and best friend Dan. I plan to spend the rest of my life living out the 14 words and following the path of the Gods to the best of my ability.”

Arrest logistics and family presence

In August 2012, when the hearing started, her son started to cry, forcing her estranged husband, Dannel Larson, to whisk him out of the courtroom. Grigsby wore orange-and-white striped jail scrubs and had her light-brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Larson said after the hearing that he visited Grigsby twice in Snohomish County with their son and that he could not afford transportation to Columbia County but would visit weekly if she were being held in Portland. He said their son was “super happy to see her” at the hearing.

Statements about duress and responsibility (context from investigative interviews)

Pedersen told a newspaper that his plan to kill his estranged father started with catching a ride to a bus station and described that Red Pedersen was driving a black Jeep Patriot with Grigsby in the passenger seat and Pedersen behind him so Pedersen could shoot him in the back of the head as he drove.

Grigsby told police she took control of the vehicle and brought it to a stop.

Pedersen told a newspaper that he takes “full responsibility” for all four killings and also said Grigsby was involved only under duress and shouldn’t be held accountable for the deaths. Pedersen said:

“I felt it was my responsibility to make sure it didn't happen again,”
and: “I take 'full responsibility' for all of the killings.”

Prior criminal history (for both suspects, as described)

The record described Joey Pedersen’s extensive criminal history, saying he spent the ages of 16 to 31 behind bars except for a one-year stretch. It said his convictions included assaulting a police officer and threatening a federal judge, and other disciplinary infractions included assault, extortion, disobedience, harassment and destruction of property. It said he was released from prison in May.

The record described that Grigsby had spent time in prison beginning in 2006 for charges including identity theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle. It said that after completing probation, she served two years for identity theft, and it also said that even in prison she got into trouble for assault and possession of contraband.

Alleged motives for specific victims

For Cody Myers, court documents said Grigsby told investigators they killed Cody because based on his last name they thought he was Jewish.

For Reginald Alan Clark, the record said he was black and that he was shot to death with a bullet wound to the head in Eureka, Calif., while other details surrounding his death were described as unclear and police had not suggested a motive in the investigative account.

Other named individuals mentioned in relation to sentencing or support

The record mentioned:

• Corey Wyatt, who was sentenced last week for providing Pedersen, a felon, with the weapon he used to kill three of the four victims.
• Kimberly Scott Wyatt, who was to be sentenced at the end of the month.
• Attorney General Eric Holder, who was stated as the decision-maker regarding the death sentence possibility in August 2012.
• Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jane Shoemaker and Hannah Horsley, who filed a sentencing memorandum.
• Senior U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty, who imposed the sentence.
• Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the defense attorney named in August 2012: Kathleen Correll.
• Magistrate Judge Paul Papak, who presided over the arraignment in August 2012.
• Magistrate judge’s courtroom described as a downtown Portland 10th floor courtroom.

Quotes and allegations about other victims’ interactions

The record included quotes from family members about prior interactions:

• Nemitz said: “I hugged you, for God's sake,” describing that she had hugged Grigsby and that her mother welcomed Grigsby into the home as family.
• Holly Perez said she was recounting the misery that all four victims must have felt in their final minutes.