Wife pleads guilty The wife of a Hawaiian Airlines pilot pleaded guilty in an Oregon court to killing her husband and was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison.
in husband’s death
The Hawaiian Air pilot
was shot while camping with
his wife and son in OregonStar-Bulletin staff
Liysa Ann King-Northon, 39, of Bend, Ore., faced a murder charge and at least 25 years in prison.
Attorneys for King-Northon had argued that she killed her husband, 44-year-old Christopher Northon, in self-defense. But as part of a plea agreement reached Thursday, King-Northon pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of intentional manslaughter, which bars her from drawing from her late husband's estate and work benefits, said Wallowa County District Attorney Dan Ousley.
"We wanted to make sure she would not benefit from his death," Ousley said yesterday.
Under Oregon law, a murder charge is reduced to manslaughter if a person can show extreme emotional distress at the time of the killing, Ousley said.
King-Northon faced a jury trial for fatally shooting her husband in October while they were on a camping trip with their 3-year-old son. Police said they found Christopher Northon dead in his sleeping bag with a gunshot wound to the head.
Northon was a Hawaiian Airlines pilot since 1987, and King-Northon a professional photographer. They owned homes in Kailua and in Bend, Ore.
A Wallowa County newspaper reported the couple had a history of domestic disputes.
Since King-Northon's October arrest, her two sons, one from a previous marriage, have been cared for by her former husband who lives in Lanikai.
Ousley said e-mails belonging to King-Northon that "indicated she had been thinking about this crime or anticipating it," may have convinced her attorneys to plead out.
King-Northon's attorneys, Patrick Birmingham and Wayne Mackeson, did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
"I'm pleased; it's a good solution," Ousley said of the agreement that adds two-and-a-half years to the minimum 10-year sentence. "It takes the possibility of an acquittal or a lesser charge out of the jury's hands and resolves it."
King-Northon was sentenced by Circuit Judge Phillip Mendiguren.
She will serve a minimum of 10 years and will be credited for about 9 months already served, Ousley said.