Dispute delays man's sentence
Douglas Fathke admitted killing his 8-year-old daughter in a 2003 shooting
HILO » Memarie Dhillon, turning in Circuit Court to her ex-husband who has admitted killing their 8-year-old daughter, said, "I hope you rot in hell."
Both Dhillon, 36, of Tacoma, Wash., and her ex-husband, Douglas Fathke, 47, of the Big Island, sobbed as Dhillon made the statement during a sentencing hearing for Fathke yesterday.
An unresolved legal question prevented Circuit Judge Glen Hara from completing the sentencing for the shooting death of Fathke's daughter, Kelsie.
A plea agreement in which the main charge against Fathke was reduced from murder to manslaughter could limit his sentence to 20 years.
But Deputy Prosecutor Sandra Freitas asked the judge for 45 years -- 20 for manslaughter, 20 for using a firearm in the 2003 killing and five for terrorizing a 16-year-old boy in the house when Kelsie was shot, each to be served consecutively. He pleaded guilty to the three charges in December.
Defense attorney Brian De Lima argued that the manslaughter and use of the firearm, involving the same victim at the same time, were part of the same incident. Therefore, the two 20-year sentences should be served together, not back to back, he argued.
Hara ordered the sentencing to resume May 2 after the lawyers research the point raised by De Lima.
Fathke, whose weight has ballooned during three years behind bars, had a history of mental illness and drug use.
"There is a psychosis he's being treated for," De Lima said.
Freitas said: "He knew he was supposed to be on medication. Was he on it? No."
Dhillon said: "The only time I saw him have episodes like this was when he was taking drugs. He used just about everything."
Shooting witness Robert Dahl said previously that Fathke acted muddled and angry for two days before the killing. Just before shooting Kelsie at the bed-and-breakfast run by Fathke, he seemed depressed by a call from Dhillon in Washington, Dahl said.
After shooting Kelsie, Fathke choked Dahl's son Bobby, but Bobby hit him and escaped.
"Kelsie was a miracle baby. It took me five years to conceive her," Dhillon told Hara yesterday.
Turning to Fathke, she said, "I know you will get what's coming to you in the end," adding her wish for him to "rot in hell."
