Washington State Board Changes Hearings About Bob Mars’ Killer

Roughly two weeks ago we told you about attempts by the murderers of Ki-Be middle school teacher, football coach, and Kennewick High wrestling coach Bob Mars to get released from jail early.  Since that time, the outcry from the Tri-Cities community has reached across Washington State.

The Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB) quietly notified Bob's widow Kris that Robert Suarez was granted an early release hearing after serving 20 of his nearly 27 year sentence.  He was granted the hearing because of a law providing those who committed violent crimes (yes, including 1st degree murder) as a juvenile the opportunity to be released after 20 years.

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She was also told that on June 23rd she, along with family and witnesses, would be able to speak their peace at a Community Concern hearing in Lacey.  Mars' other murderer, Jordan Castillo, will have his hearing in February of next year.  Suarez was 16 and Castillo 14 on the night they drove a knife through Bob's aorta before hitting (and bruising) his spine.

Not long after we revealed what was happening, Lars Larson picked it up on his show (heard weekdays from noon-3pm on KONA), and Ari Hoffman featured it on his program on KVI in Seattle.

The Board Took Notice

On the morning of June 12th I received a message from Kris Mars that the ISRB had posted a release on their website specifically addressing her Community Concerns hearing in Lacey.  In the post, that has since been removed, outlined that the impacted community could NOT attend in person to submit testimony.  It was limited only to (in this case) surviving family members, witnesses, (per RCW 7.69.020.) and those who were directly involved in the case.  Seemed like the meeting may have been incorrectly named.

The ISRB Does An About Face

It can't be overstated how much impact the people in our community that wrote letters and sent emails have had on the ISRB.  Between that and the attention given by concerned media, the ISRB has done something I'm not sure they've done before.

Yesterday (Monday the 16th) they announced not one, but two additional hearings on June 23rd for our community to speak regarding the potential release of Robert Suarez.  The victim hearing will still happen at 10am at the DOC building in Lacey (637 Woodland Square Loop SE).  The first of the two added hearings will happen at 1pm and will be for those who wish to drive to Lacey and speak in person.

The second will start at 2pm and be for those who wish to speak remotely to the board.  The addition of a pair of one hour long meeting for our community to have their voice heard is significant, and a testament to how passionate people feel about the possibility of a murderer getting out of jail early.  If you wish to sign up for either meeting, you can fill out the form by clicking here.

This situation also inspired the creation of a Facebook page to shine a light the rights of victims here in Washington State.  Right now they have a poll to see how many people are able to attend the hearing in person on the 23rd

Here's hoping that the outpouring of support for Bob Mars' memory, and for his family, helps create change with the way the ISRB determines hearings.  I've been told that response determines their actions.  The ISRB doesn't exactly go out of it's way to notify communities of upcoming hearings.  They do the bare minimum.

When you're dealing people convicted of violent crimes (including sexually violent) against adults and children, communities should be made aware that early release is being discussed for those individuals.  All we can hope is the board recognizes that 1st degree murder is a crime of premeditation and keeps the men that stole the life of a husband, father, mentor, and community pillar in prison for their full sentences.