Olympia man sentenced for assaulting father-in-law who later died
A 34-year-old Olympia man has been sentenced to just over 3-1/2 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assaulting his father-in-law, who later died, as well as his stepdaughters in 2018.
Ryan D. Werts was arrested in mid-January 2018 on suspicion of assaulting his father-in-law, Bruce Anderson, twice — once around Christmas Day 2017 and again around the New Year holiday.
Anderson had been living in Tumwater with his daughter, Werts, and three grandchildren but was in Providence St. Peter Hospital being treated for severe injuries at the time of Werts’ arrest, according to a prosecutor’s statement of probable cause.
Also according to the prosecutor’s statement:
Anderson told police that, in the first incident, Werts had hit him in the face and kneed him the ribs, resulting in broken ribs and bruises. He didn’t call police at the time because of his grandchildren and family situation. In the second incident, he said Werts punched him in the face several times and he lost consciousness, resulting in a broken nose and black eyes. That’s when his daughter drove him to the hospital.
He originally told hospital staff he had fallen off a balcony, but ultimately decided to “tell police what actually occurred so Ryan could get help,” the statement reads, saying Werts is a combat veteran with PTSD and “thought he was still in combat when the assault occurred.”
Initially, prosecutors charged Werts with second-degree assault, domestic violence, and he was released from jail on $5,000 bond. However, the case shifted after Anderson died in May.
A Thurston County Coroner’s investigation concluded the manner of Anderson’s death was homicide and that “based on a thorough review of medical records, law enforcement reports, autopsy findings and toxicology results, cause of death is attributed to hepatic cirrhosis aggravated by delayed effects of blunt force trauma of head and torso.”
With the new information, prosecutors escalated charges to one count second-degree murder, domestic violence, and one count of second-degree assault, domestic violence, in November 2018. Superior Court Commissioner Nathan Kortokrax set bail at $100,000.
Werts pleaded not guilty, court records show, bail was later lowered to $50,000, and he was released from jail on bond. His address changed from Tumwater to Olympia over the course of the case, according to court records.
In an agreement reached in February this year, Werts ultimately pleaded guilty to lesser charges and the case was combined with another case in which Werts was charged with assaulting his stepdaughters, who were ages 9 and 12 at the time, between October 2017 and January 2018.
The agreement followed an independent expert for the defense concluding that Anderson’s death was not due to injuries suffered at the hands of Werts, both lawyers on the murder case confirmed with The Olympian.
Dr. Jennifer Stankus reviewed the same information included in the coroner’s investigation, Defense Attorney Brian Gerhart said. Based on her review, she was “unequivocal” that Anderson’s injuries weren’t related to his ultimate demise.
Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Lord shared that report with the forensic pathologist on the case at the Coroner’s Office, who reviewed Stankus’ information and didn’t agree with it, but understood the perspective and said the case may be “over charged,” Lord said. After discussion with the pathologist and prosecutor Jon Tunheim and negotiation, Lord said, the charges were returned to where they started as part of the agreement.
The case involving Werts’ stepdaughters had been running parallel with the case involving his father-in-law.
A prosecutor’s statement of probable cause in that case includes allegations Werts assaulted his wife, and Commissioner Kortokrax initially found probable cause to charge Werts with two counts of third-degree assault of a child, domestic violence, and one count of fourth-degree assault, domestic violence, and set bail at $5,000. However, prosecutors ultimately filed solely the two charges involving the children.
Superior Court Judge Jim Dixon denied a motion to join the cases in February 2019, court records show. They would’ve been headed toward two separate trials if the parties hadn’t reached their agreement, according to Gerhart.
In the agreement reached earlier this year, though, Werts pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault, domestic violence, for the alleged assaults against Anderson and two counts of third-degree assault of a child, domestic violence, in the case involving his stepdaughters.
A report filed by the defense before sentencing detailed Werts’ military history, including two deployments to Iraq, reported symptoms of PTSD and subsequent treatment through the Veterans Administration. Prosecutors argue in their court documents that the defense’s report didn’t leave them with any information about Werts’ mental health history beyond his self-reporting.
According to court documents, prosecutors recommended 43 months in custody, at the high end of the standard range, and defense recommended 33 months, the low end. Werts had no prior felony convictions.
On June 29, Judge Erik Price sentenced Werts to 43 months in prison and 18 months community custody, or probation, for the second-degree assault counts and 29 months in prison and 12 months community custody for the third-degree assault of a child counts.
Sentences for the cases are served concurrently, the lawyers confirmed, so he will serve 43 months total in prison and another 18 months in community custody. The judge also ordered him not to have contact with the children involved in the case, to undergo evaluation for treatment for domestic abuse, substance use disorder, and parenting classes, and to pay victim assessment and DNA collection fees.
Deputy Prosecutor Lord said she hopes this case helps people understand the impact of domestic violence on families, and especially the young girls — and that the community “needs to work toward finding treatment methods that work for the victims of these cases and for the offenders.”
“At his sentencing hearing he talked about being abused as a child himself, so hopefully this will be helpful to him in moving forward in his life,” Lord said. “And, more importantly, hopefully there are resources in our community to assist the girls and their mom in healing.”
Resources for survivors of domestic violence
Anyone in an emergency situation who needs immediate help should call 911.
In Thurston County, anyone in a domestic-violence relationship who feels their safety is at risk but is not in immediate danger can call:
- The 24/7 Helpline operated by SafePlace: 360-754-6300; or
- Family Support Center of South Sound: Available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 360-754-9297.
This story was originally published July 11, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
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