Tri-Cities man sentenced for killing wife, burning down home and fleeing to Oklahoma
A Tri-Cities man convicted of killing his wife and then setting their home on fire will spend the next two decades in prison.
Brian Lynn Wilcox, 69, was sentenced Friday in Benton County Superior Court for the April 2022 murder of his wife, Kathy Wilcox. He was found guilty during a November trial.
Judge Sam Swanberg sentenced Wilcox to 18 years for the murder, three years for first-degree arson and five years for the use of a gun, said Benton County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger.
Eisinger said the murder and gun sentences will run consecutively, so Wilcox will spend about 23 years and four months behind bars.
“It’s hard to say that any kind of sentence on a case like this is enough, but we’re very pleased with the outcome, it represents nearly the maximum sentence that can be imposed,” Eisinger told the Herald.
Eisinger said that the callousness of Wilcox’s actions factored heavily into his office asking for a sentence at the top of the Washington state sentencing range.
He said Wilcox shot his wife in the back of the head, did not attempt to render aid or call 911, instead grabbed a gas can and set their home on fire. He then headed directly to withdraw nearly all of the money in their bank accounts.
Eisinger said it was a total of 14 minutes between Wilcox shooting his wife and then withdrawing money. He had no blood on him that could be seen in surveillance footage, indicating he had not tried to help his wife, he said.
“I think he demonstrated a callous indifference for his wife of 47 years,” Eisinger said.
Wilcox has filed a notice that he intends to appeal the sentence. A motion to declare a mistrial also was considered, but Swanberg denied it Friday morning.
Eisinger said the conviction and sentencing was possible thanks to the diligence of local law enforcement and the help of the Del City, Okla., police department, which assisted when Wilcox was found and arrested 1,700 miles from the Tri-Cities.
“Multiple officers traveled out here to testify, it’s a big deal when you’re getting assistance from a law enforcement agency halfway across the country,” he said.
Conviction
Wilcox admitted during testimony that he had shot his wife, but claimed it was an accident. Wilcox claimed he was just cleaning his gun and it went off.
Police and firefighters were first called to the 1405 Elm Street home, just west of the fairgrounds, shortly after 10:30 a.m. for smoke and flames coming from the front door and roof.
By the time Benton County Fire District 1 firefighters arrived, fire already had engulfed the home, which is just outside Kennewick city limits.
After putting out the fire, firefighters discovered Kathy Wilcox’s body on the kitchen floor.
An autopsy would later show that she died from a single shot to the back of her head. When police were able to get into the house, they found the smell of gasoline and the remains of what appeared to be a gas can, according to court documents.
A neighbor’s security camera, caught Brian Wilcox leaving the home in a blue Mitsubishi Outlander about 10 minutes before the first 911 call. He stopped at a Kennewick Bank of America branch and took out $5,000 in cash and fled the Tri-Cities as their home was burning.
As deputies searched for Brian Wilcox, they got a break — he called his son, Eisinger said during the trial. Initially, Jerry Wilcox didn’t pick up and his father left a message apologizing and saying that he would come back and turn himself in. When Jerry called him back, they had the long conversation when Brian apologized, and confessed to “snapping,” and said he didn’t mean for the shooting to happen.
Brian Wilcox told his son he lost control during an argument about a car accident, Eisinger said.
He said during his 1,700-mile trip, he hadn’t eaten or had coffee and considered hurting himself, the prosecutor told jurors.
After the phone call, Jerry contacted sheriff’s deputies and they soon learned that Brian Wilcox was in Del City, Okla. Local police officers found him and the SUV in a Walmart parking lot.
When the car was searched, Eisinger said investigators found the 9mm Glock handgun used to kill Kathy Wilcox.
The gun was underneath the same hat that Brian Wilcox wore into the bank to withdraw the money.
Officers also discovered a journal where Brian Wilcox wrote that he hoped he would die in a hail of gunfire or that someone would shoot him.
In his final entry, Eisinger said he wrote, “I’m going home tomorrow. Jerry doesn’t hate me and all the family wants me home.”
As he was being brought to the Benton County jail by a detective, he told her, “I did a really stupid thing, I’m going to pay for it for a long time,” Eisinger recounted to the jury.
