Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Washington Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Murder, Dismemberment Of Half-Sister
Mom of two Jamie Haggard's body was found dismembered and burnt in a suitcase in May 2018, two years after she initially went missing from her King County home.
A man from Washington state has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing his half-sister, who was found dismembered and burnt in a suitcase in May 2018.
King County prosecutors had asked for David Haggard, 48, be sentenced to 22 years for the death of Jamie Haggard, 27, whose body was found by a roadside cleaning crew along State Route 522 in Snohomish County, according to NBC-affiliated station KING-TV.
David maintained his innocence throughout the trial, even stating that he didn't do it during Friday's hearing. According to local outlet HeraldNet, he said, "I have respect for the justice system, we do the best we can... With that, it’s not flawless. We see innocent people go to jail all the time. And that’s what’s happening today. I didn’t kill my sister. I love Jamie.”
David, who was sentenced to 15 years Friday, was charged with second-degree murder in October 2019 for the gruesome domestic crime, according to KING.
RELATED: Man Was On Phone With His Sister When His Girlfriend Shot Him To Death
The mom of two disappeared from the Kenmore-area home she shared with her half-brother on June 9, 2016, when David was 42, according to the King County Sheriff's Office.
"The investigation by the King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit began on June 17, 2016, when Jamie was reported missing by her father," the sheriff's office wrote in a 2019 Facebook post. "During the investigation, Major Crime’s detectives spoke with numerous witnesses who said Jamie had a volatile relationship with her brother David. On numerous occasions, Jamie told her boyfriend she feared David was going to kill her."
Detectives with the King County Major Crimes division, relying on tips about Jamie's whereabouts, dug up the yard of the house where the half-siblings lived on two separate occasions, but her body wasn't found there.
David was already in jail on an unrelated arson charge stemming from a 2016 case when second-degree murder charges for Jamie's death were filed against him on Oct. 28, 2019. His bail was set at $2 million.
The remains, found by a cleaning crew that was picking up litter in May 2018 — two years after Jamie's disappearance — were so badly decomposed that authorities could not even determine what gender the person was, FOX 13 Seattle reported.
It wasn't until two months later that a medical examiner confirmed those remains to be Jamie's, and that she was the victim of homicide, according to FOX 13.
David allegedly admitted to assaulting Jamie right before she went missing, according to the station, which also cited court documents which revealed the half-siblings had been fighting about living arrangements just days before her death.
Court documents also showed that David tried to cover up the crime by burning construction equipment to get rid of his fingerprints and by posing as Jamie in texts to family members after she was gone so they wouldn't worry, FOX 13 reports.
