Guilty plea in mike webb murder leaves many questions unanswered

"If you want to get away with first degree murder,"  says Wayne Webb, "move to Seattle."

Long after the discovery of Webb's dismembered, decomposing body in his Queen Anne Hill home, and  the subsequent arrest of the 29-year-old killer, Scott Brian White has pleaded guilty to second degree murder.

Wayne's sighing a lot today as he talks from his Northern California home. His brother was Mike Webb, the longtime KIRO talk host who was murdered in 2007.

(Photo: Mike Webb, KIRO "Battle of the Talk Show Hosts," May 2004, Gregory McKie)

Prosecutors are asking for a 12-year sentence, his defense attorney hopes to talk it down to 10.

Webb and his sister Marian Bogni have been been watching agonizedly for nearly two years as White has avoided trial-setting in the case.

White, a homeless man with a long record of drug addiction iwhich includes heroin and crystal meth, has been in and out of Western State Hospital in mental evaluations by both the defense and the prosecution since he was arrested and charged with first degree murder in 2007.

Prosecutors have kept Wayne and Marian in the loop during what Wayne considers a "lame" prosecution of their brother's confessed murderer.

"They don't think they can prove premeditation," says Webb.

The brutality of the ax murder was shown in an autopsy which showed slashes to the chest, neck and shoulder and five lengthy lacerations across his face. 

The strokes of the double-bitted ax were so powerful, they left gashes in the drywall ceiling above the bed where Webb lay sleeping.  A cut-out of the ceiling was collected as evidence by police.

It was a slaying of intense rage, and strength.

A suspect must be sane enough to assist in his own defense. That's been the issue for the nearly two years since White's arrest. Public defender Julie Lawry has been preparing an insanity plea which she says she could have won.

Prosecutors apparently agreed. Lawry says White entered the plea to get it all over quickly.

Prosecutor Don Raz told the Seattle P-I's Levi Pulkkinen that White's mental condition -- described as schizoaffective disorder, can, when untreated, include episodes of severe psychosis. Drug use at the time of the killing prompted psychiatrists to conclude he was probably unable to plan a murder.

"Premeditation probably didn't occur in this case," Raz said. Premeditation is the main requirement for first-degree murder.

Webb met White at a Capital Hill AA meeting; he claims Webb bought and shared drugs and alcohol with him; the two lived together for a time.

Webb was an out-and-proud gay man, and though the relationship between the two was sexual, White denies that he is gay. Did this sex for drugs relationship contribute to the crazy rage with which White committed this murder? We will probably never know.

The prospect of accomplices has not been addressed publicly. Family and others have questioned how the slightly built White could physically have managed to move Webb's 250+ lbs body from the upstairs bedroom down two sets of stairs, and over a 3-foot cement barrier to the basement crawl space.

The body was not found for months, despite it was widely known that Wbb was missing, and neighbors saw swarms of flies crawling a basement window, and crows dive-bombing the same window, (behavior not uncommon when a body decomposes undiscovered in a structure). 

(photo: Scott White, purple highlites by KoolAid)

White has admitted he killed Webb on between April 13 and 15. Mike was missing after that and not found until late June. Police were in the house at least twice, once, even with cadaver dogs. Eventually, the body was discovered by a guy hired from the Millionair's Club by the landlord to clean out Mike's stuff from the house after eviction papers ripened.

"Seattle police really fucked this up," Wayne Webb says.

There were ritualistic and pornographic items found in the dirt and on a cement buttress in the small space near the plastic-wrapped body.

There were definitely other people known to the police in and out of Webb's house as he lay mouldering in the basement.

"We know that, besides White, [person's identity withheld] was in the house, spending [Mike's] money, driving his car," says Wayne Webb. "He is walking free." 

"You got some pussy-ass prosecutors up there," Webb says, "and you know what the sad part is?  We, the family have got nothing to say about any of this."

The family will be part of a sentencing hearing to be held July 10.

(BlatherWatch had a long, and acrimonious relationship with radio talker Mike Webb. We've kept current of the legal and back story goings-on, but in the interest of a clean case going through the system, we've not written on this blog. Read all our coverage of the years leading up to and through Webb's death here).

Comments

[Sanders]

thanks Michael, best coverage in town of this. Got some interesting details. Have you talked to White? It reads like you have.

[KIRO Kubicle man]

No matter what details Hood makes up about this or how he's scammed Mike Webb's family, Hood would murder him again if it would get him on the radio or more blog traffic. He is murdering Mike again with this other posts.

[KSR]

Agreed.

While touting Webb as the best progressive voice Seattle could possibly develop (God, I hope not), Hood exploited Webb's weaknesses in every possible way.

Knowing Webb's preference that his picture not be taken, and knowing Webb's tendency to blow up when confronted with a camera, Hood nevertheless dogged Webb at the courthouse. He got his picture. hope you're happy, Michael.

Mike Webb was a one-note pony, which made him, to me, largely unlistenable. Still, it's sad that guys like Hood will do anything to draw a crowd. Like Mike, Hood can't seem to make a point without denegrating someone. His style inflamed Webb's rage; unfortunately, the kind of fuel that drives Hood's sick style of "journalism".

[meow]

KSR,
What picture did Hood get? Looks to me like all of them are attributed to others. Exploited Webb? What ever are you talking about? All he did was cover a personal/news story that fit within the area of interest of this blog. Should he have ignored it? Webb provided plenty of fuel all on his own.

[dogmanduex]

I liked Mike Webb. He and I worked in the same biz way back when. Never met him but we had a bit of spirited email
correspondence going on before he was whacked; both of us shouting at each other with a "Loud L" -- Libertarian vs Liberal.

I know nothing of Wayne Webb, though I agree with him that the murderer got off easy. Yet that is how it works under "progressive" politics: if you break it, you don't have to buy it.

[Puget Sound]

RIP Mike Webb.
His debate shows with Bryan Suits were great radio.
I hope more comes out on the issues surrounding the investigation.
I'm half surprised a Richard Lee type hasn't begun to look into the death of Mike Webb.

[joanie]

Hmm...I liked and disliked Webb at the same time. He was fun to listen to at times but also very antagonistic.

I'm a liberal but I can't believe how many "isms" there are to apply to simple barbarian"ism". Sometimes, the best remedy is a new start. That means an end to the old one and that means that I think there is a time and place to either end a person's life or put him away for life.

Given all the drugs this guy did, how can anybody apply a label to his state of being at the time. He is responsible for an act of barbarianism. That's the only ism I care about in this case.

[Sarge]

I really miss Webb not because he was the best local lib on the radio, but because he was the ONLY local lib on the radio.
I just went back through all the posts, near as I can see, Hood never had a picture of Webb until his fraud conviction at which time he ripped off the Seattle Time's picture.
Have to admit, that was some pretty entertaining reading, Michael and Michael never failed to take each other's bait.
I started reading this blog when the Mike Webb fraud case started and come back most days.

[Coiler]

Webb was great... I liked his production quality with mixing songs and outtakes of callers.

[Ray]

I miss Mike. I work nights and would yell at the radio sometimes. I respected to and rarely agreed with him. It really sucks that scumbag is getting off so easy. I am sorry for your loss we all lost someone specail when Mike passed away

[mrogi]

The stench of a rotting corpse emanates from a house and is strong enough to attract swarms of flies and hungry crows. How come police cadaver dogs could not detect such a powerful stench? Those police dogs must have been retired coke sniffing DEA canines with severely damaged noses.

[mrogi]

If Mike Webb thought he could get away with his insurance scam, he was just as insane as his killer.

[KS]

Mike Webb did not have both oars in the water and sounded insane half of the time - no surprise that he was a progressive. I'll always remember him as one of the most hate-filled talk show hosts on the air. The guy was troubled.

[Coiler]

As is you.

[KS]

touche. We are all here for each other - just one big fat assed dysfunctional family...

[Larry]

I met Mike at KIXI and we used to throw music trivia questions at each other. Those were fun times and I wouldn't trade them for anything. It makes his death and everything else leading up to it and now just so hard to believe.

[Tommy008]

All this mock outrage horsecrap about Hood terrorizing Webb at the courthouse, and others of us beating up on poor little Mike on Blatherwatch, while he was alive. Pure drivel- especially the verbal offal that Monson spewed out about Blatherwatch after Mike's death. Webb was a big boy and Hood had a right to get a photo if he wanted. Who says Webb had a right not to be photographed? He doesn't, he was a public media figure. Webb gave as good as he got in his feud with Hood and Blatherwatch and seemed to get off on it actually. Monson couldn't give a flying winged crap about Webb and used to take onair tapes of Webb to his boss at KIRO , in hopes of getting him fired. Webb called little man Dori an "idiot" on his internet show. The real scumbutts are the axe murderer and Monson- not Hood and Blatherwatch.

[gasbag]

Yeah, like we should take your word and opinion on ANYthing. Hardly.

[Mike's Friend]

Word is that Scott Brian White's attorney is asking for an "exceptional downward sentencing" due to his mental capacity. If the exceptional down is granted, this homeless, murdering, drug addicted loser could be out on the street in a matter of months. Whether you liked Mike, or hated him -- this is a mentally ill AXE MURDERER we're talking about. What are they thinking?

[Michael Serkin-Poole]

I loved Mike Webb very much. He was a dear friend to my family. He came to our house for dinner and we had a great time. I was on his show many times. By myself and with my "domestic partner" David of 28 years today. We talked about politics, parenthood. David and I adopted 3 children. The first on in the late 80's. It was David and I who brought "Gay adoption" out of the closet. Before that, no one spoke of it, wrote about it and in many instances, thought about it. Anyway, I miss Mike. Mike was going to be our "best man" at Davids and my wedding. When David and I do get married, we will be thinking of Mike. Bes to all.