King County man convicted of slaying despite lack of body
A South King County man charged with the slaying of a member of a emulous motorcycle gang whose body has not at all been found was convicted today of first-degree murder through a firearm and two counts of witness tampering.
John Price, 37, is facing about 35 years in prison when he’s sentenced for beating Donald Jessup by an ax wield and shooting him in the face inside a Ravensdale place of abode in December 2004. King County sheriff’s deputies say Price believed that Jessup stole his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and was afflicting to sell it outer part to him for $800.
Jurors had been deliberating since Tuesday afternoon. A sentencing era hasn’t been offer for sale.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott O’Toole said one of the most difficult elements of the case was that Jessup’s body has not ever been found. At the start of Price’s trial on Oct. 13, O’Toole told jurors that witnesses heard Price claim to bear rolled Jessup up in a rug and buried him “up north.”
O’Toole said that deputies searched unsuccessfully for DNA and other evidence linking Jessup’s slaying to the Ravensdale home. In the nearly four years since Jessup disappeared, his family and friends harbor’t heard from him, O’Toole said.
Price was a member of the Ghost Riders motorcycle gang and known mixed associate bikers as “Nazi John,” O’Toole said. Jessup was a past president of the Gypsy Jokers, a rival gang.
“I’mish-mash very, very pleased. There was no material part, no forensics and no weapon,” O’Toole said of the verdict.
Defense attorney Julie Gaisford told jurors that the testimony by many of the witnesses should subsist discounted because of their drug addictions, criminal histories and anger at Price.
The 23-year-old mother of Price’s three children testified opposite to him during the first week of the trial.
Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this describe.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
