Royce Baxter, 59, earlier had pleaded guilty to the charges related to the stalking and underwear theft, in addition to a charge of felony harassment stemming from accusations that he had plotted to kill the Thurston County sheriff’s detective who arrested him.
Baxter also was accused, but not convicted, of plotting to kill the victim’s husband.
“I am not the villain, the violent, dangerous person or criminal Detective Haller and Prosecutor (Andrew) Toynbee have attempted to so diligently and adamantly portray me as,” Baxter told Superior Court Judge Lisa Sutton, his voice shaking. “I am not a threat or danger to the victims … and I have never physically harmed, assaulted or injured anyone in any way, and I never would.”
Baxter continued, “Now because of my weakness, my flaws, my infatuation, obsession with a person I’d fallen in love with years ago, I did not control my desires, and committed terrible transgressions.”
Haller has said the case is one of the strangest he has seen in his 40 years in law enforcement. Baxter, a retired U.S. Wish and Wildlife employee, had worked with his victim at the Willapa Wildlife Refuge in the late 1990s, court papers state.
“She had no idea that Royce Baxter was obsessed with her,” according to court papers. She added that while she was living in South Bend with her husband, Baxter broke into their house several times.
The victim got a no-contact order, and the family moved to Vancouver, then Olympia, “and she started noticing items out of place or missing from her home,” court papers state.
In December 2010, Thurston County sheriff’s deputies pulled Baxter over near Tumwater. Baxter had a handgun, a bag of women’s underwear and four pit bulls in his vehicle. Deputies pulled Baxter over in his GMC Yukon minutes after the victim’s husband interrupted a nighttime burglary of their Olympia home.
The homeowner recognized Baxter as they struggled in the dark.
After the deputies stopped Baxter, they found a camera that contained photos of the inside and outside of the victims’ house, as well as a number of pairs of underwear, and photos of the victims’ underwear. Baxter also had a key to the victims’ residence.
Baxter may have broken into the couple’s home as many as 28 times, court papers state.
Thurston County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Toynbee said in court that it appears Baxter was stalking his victim for more than 12 years.
“They don’t feel like they can be safe in their home,” Toynbee said.
Toynbee added that the victims in the case are extremely frightened of Baxter.
“It’s extremely creepy,” Toynbee said of Baxter’s behavior. “It’s the stuff of horror films.”
Baxter apologized in court.
“My actions were reprehensible vile, repulsive,” he said. “It was a terrible invasion of their privacy.”
Baxter’s story took an odd turn when, while an inmate at the Thurston County Jail, he was re-arrested in April on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder and solicitation to commit first-degree murder in connection with an alleged plot to kill Haller and the victim’s husband. Those charges were later amended to a charge of felony harassment, after, according to Baxter’s attorney, Wayne Fricke of Tacoma, it became clear that the jailhouse informant who had reported Baxter was dishonest and unreliable.
Baxter said in court that he did not believe he deserved to be sentenced to 15 years. According to court documents, Baxter believes he was “railroaded.”
Toynbee said Baxter’s comments are indicative of Baxter’s failure to take responsibility for his actions. Toynbee added that Baxter’s tape-recorded conversations at the jail, both with the informant and with an undercover officer posing as a hit man, supported the initial charges.
The recorded conversations “were consistent with somebody who wanted these people to be taken out of the picture.”
Baxter pleaded guilty in September to residential burglary with sexual motivation, six counts of residential burglary, felony stalking and felony harassment. He will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5445
jpawloski@theolympian.com
