Killer of Everett firefighter sentenced 34 years after the crime

Elmer Nash was sentenced to 10 years in prison for first degree murder. Law enforcement and defense only requested three and a half years.

EVERETT, Washington. – A Snohomish County judge sentenced Elmer Nash Jr. to 10 years in prison and the rest of his life for the murder of an Everett firefighter 34 years ago.

47-year-old Elmer Nash Jr. went to the courtroom to be sentenced, just a year younger than the man he killed.

“I wish I could turn back the clock and take a match out of a kid’s hand,” said Erin Van Ry, Park’s eldest daughter.

Time for the family of Everett firefighter Gary Parks stopped on February 16, 1987 when Elmer Nash set the library at Everett Community College on fire to cover up a break-in.

Nash was only 12 years old at the time and later became a professional criminal who, as an adult, committed 11 criminal convictions and 58 misdemeanors. He added another offense last week when he failed to show up for his conviction.

Instead, he was picked up by the police in a motor home in Kent. It was one final outrage from which the Parks family suffered.

“He did irreparable harm to my family, cost the local community millions and spat in the face of the court when he failed to appear for his original conviction,” said Park’s grandson Zachary Van Ry.

Nash was a suspect from the start, but the police didn’t have the evidence to arrest him.

After he was thrown into Snohomish County Jail again, detectives eventually convinced him to confess to a first degree murder.

Parks’ widow, Kathy Parks, testified that it had been painful for a lifetime.

“In the years following Gary’s death, I lived as a survivor and missed the Christmas holidays we had together, graduations, birthdays, grandchildren and their lives,” she said.

Nash’s attorney described an abusive childhood for someone who never learned right from wrong, but was a generally decent person.

“Everyone wants to know who Elmer Nash is,” said defense attorney Phil Sayles. “He’s the guy who’s been sobbing at this table for an hour.”

For his part, Nash tried to apologize to the Parks family, saying, “I’m sorry for your loss. I wish I could bring him back, but I can’t “before I started crying.

While he was a child at the time of the murder, Nash was tried as an adult.

In return for a confession of guilt, prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed to a sentence of almost three and a half years. After Nash failed to appear at his original conviction, prosecutors continued to respond to their request for nine months.

But Judge David Kurtz ruled that, given Nash’s life as a criminal, this was inappropriate.

“This is a grown man who hasn’t grown up,” said Kurtz.

In the end, Parks’ widow and Nash’s mother comforted each other and hugged and said they would pray for each other. Two families have changed for a moment forever.