The agony Rich Morrow felt when his 21-year-old daughter died worsened when the man accused of causing the crash that killed her and two other students skipped bail and disappeared.
Six years later, a trial finally begins for driver Frederick Russell, and Morrow feels a huge relief.
“When I got my subpoena to appear, I sat there and looked at it,” Morrow said. “It was not just a subpoena, but a sign that we finally made it. We are finally going to have this trial.”
Monday's trial became possible when Russell was tracked to Ireland. With his red hair and fake Irish accent, he had blended in, had a girlfriend and worked as security guard at a lingerie shop, authorities said.
But a tip from a man who saw a most wanted poster of Russell called authorities.
Russell, now 29, is charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of vehicular assault. He faces 10 to 14 years in prison if convicted.
Court papers allege he was drunk and speeding when he caused an accident that killed the Washington State University students, including Morrow's daughter Stacy, and injured three others on June 4, 2001.
Defense attorney Francisco Duarte said the defense plans to challenge the competence of the crash investigation and the conclusion that Russell caused the accident.
“We believe the government failed to properly investigate this case,” Duarte said.
The defense will also argue that a blood test showing Russell was drunk was flawed, and cannot be independently verified because it was accidentally destroyed in 2004.
Duarte declined to say if Russell will testify.
Police reports say Russell and a friend were drinking in a Pullman bar when they got into Russell's SUV and drove toward Moscow, Idaho, 8 miles east on a busy two-lane road that connects the two college towns.
He came to a slower vehicle and, despite being in a no-passing zone, tried to pass at 90 mph, police said.
Police believe his vehicle struck a car heading in the opposite direction, then plowed into a Cadillac carrying the seven Washington State students, returning from a movie in Moscow.
The crash killed Stacy Morrow; Brandon Clements, 22; and Ryan Sorensen, 21; the other occupants were injured. Russell had minor injuries.
Stacy's body was so damaged that her family had her cremated, Rich Morrow said.
“The day I had to stand in the Kimball Funeral Home in Pullman, and they handed my daughter to me in a box … that undid me,” Morrow said.
Russell was taken to an Idaho hospital, where his blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.12 percent, well above the legal limit of .08 percent, according to court records.
Russell was charged with vehicular homicide and assault, and released on a relatively low bond of $5,000 that outraged victims and families.
Russell did not show up for a hearing on Oct. 26, 2001. According to police, he sold some baseball cards, gathered other assets, and fled. Shortly afterward, several newspapers received a letter allegedly signed by the fugitive.
It read in part: “I left because I had no choice. Since the first day after the tragic accident, horrible things have been printed about me. Now people are so enraged that they would rather see me dead than receive a fair trial. I maintain my innocence. But my life has been repeatedly threatened, so I cannot stay.”
A Russell family friend later admitted driving him to an airport in Canada and intentionally misleading investigators about his whereabouts. She was sentenced to six months in federal prison.
Greg Russell, the defendant's father and then the dean of WSU's criminal justice department, told authorities that he posted his son's bail, but had no idea he planned to flee.
Shortly afterward, Greg Russell resigned from WSU and took a job in Arkansas.
Meanwhile, Russell blended into the underground economy in Dublin, Ireland, U.S. Marshal Mike Kline said.
Russell had a girlfriend and worked for years as a security guard at “Extrovert Boutique,” a lingerie store, Kline said. Russell also sported an Irish Cross tattoo on his arm and a shamrock tattoo on his back.
In 2005, the U.S. Marshals Service placed him on their Most Wanted list. A man in Ireland saw the picture and called authorities. Four years to the day after becoming a fugitive, Russell was taken into custody.
Irish law makes extraditions difficult — Irish courts had turned down the previous 19 extradition requests from the United States — and the arrest triggered months of court fights.
On Oct. 12, 2006, Ireland's second-highest court turned down Russell's last appeal and he was handed over to U.S. authorities.
Morrow, of West Seattle, is upset at all the legal machinations that Russell has put the families through.
“I am disappointed this young man has not stood up and said `enough's enough' and put himself at the mercy of the court,” Morrow said.
