Though a King County jury spared Christopher Monfort’s life for killing a Seattle police officer nearly six years ago, jurors were told his time in prison is bound to be bleak given his paralysis and chronic health problems.
After a six-month trial, the jury of six men and six women deliberated for less than an hour Thursday before sentencing Monfort to life in prison without the possibility of release.
After the verdict was announced, Monfort said, “I’m happy about that” as he was wheeled to an elevator by jail guards, the Seattle Times reports.
On June 5, the same jury convicted Monfort, 46, of four felonies, including aggravated first-degree murder for ambushing and fatally shooting Officer Timothy Brenton on Halloween night 2009 in Seattle’s Leschi neighborhood.
Monfort was left a paraplegic after he was shot twice when he pulled a gun on Seattle police Sgt. Gary Nelson, who was with two other homicide investigators following up on a tip about the car used in Brenton’s killing, when they encountered Monfort outside his Tukwila apartment on Nov. 6, 2009.