Arraignment postponed for man in killings of his Panther Lake parents

A King County Superior Court judge on Wednesday agreed to delay an arraignment until Monday for Vincent Wayne Housley, charged with killing his parents in their Panther Lake home. She also reprimanded several in the audience about appropriate behavior in a courtroom.

In her Seattle courtroom that was packed with media, Judge Helen Halpert granted the request from defense attorney Rick Lichtenstadter to give him more time to discuss a plea with Housley.

“I need more time to confer with my client,” Lichtenstadter told the judge. “I first met him yesterday (Tuesday).”

Housley, 43, appeared at the session but did not enter a plea, or say anything.

King County prosecutors charged Housley Feb. 9 with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his parents after an argument about his drug use Feb. 1 at their Panther Lake home.

The bodies of Vincent Housley’s father, Joe Housley, 66, and mother, Karen Housley, 67, were found by their other son, Dennis Housley, on Feb. 4 inside a home in the 21200 block of 124th Avenue Southeast, just outside of the Kent city limits.

Dennis Housley, his wife Nancy Housley and several other relatives and friends of the slain couple, were in court for the arraignment. A window and door separated the judge, attorneys and defendant from the courtroom crowd.

Shortly after Vincent Housley entered the courtroom, he looked back through the window at the media cameras, relatives and friends of his parents. One man gestured by moving his hand in a slashing motion across his throat while someone else said, “Kill yourself,” audibly enough for those in the audience to hear.

Judge Halpert immediately ordered that no gestures be made in her courtroom. She later asked to meet with the prosecutor and defense attorney to discuss courtroom decorum.

Halpert granted a motion by the prosecutor that Vincent Housley have no contact of any kind with Dennis and Nancy Housley. The two had discovered the bodies of the couple Feb. 4, after going to check on them.

Vincent Housley remains in the King County jail in Seattle on $2 million bail. If convicted as charged, he faces a standard sentence of 44 to 57 years in prison.

King County Sheriff’s detectives arrested Vincent Housley Feb. 5 at a Tukwila motel in connection with the deaths of the Panther Lake couple.

Vincent Housley, who lived with his parents, told detectives that he beat and stabbed his mother and father during an argument with them over his drug use, according to charging papers.

Vincent Housley told detectives he had been smoking large quantities of crack cocaine since Jan. 30 and into the next several days. His parents returned home on or about Feb. 1 from a trip to Spokane.

The son also told police he ransacked the home of his parents on Feb. 2 for valuables to sell for drugs. He also took their two cars. He sold his mother’s 2006 Buick Lacrosse for one ounce of rock cocaine.

Detectives tracked down Vincent Housley after his former wife told them that she had received a recent message on her cell phone about an item Vincent had left at a library at South 144th Street and 42nd Avenue South in Tukwila.

Detectives know the area near the library often is used for dealing drugs, so they began to search that neighborhood. Detectives then spotted a 1988 Buick Regal, owned by Joe Housley, at a Tukwila motel in the 3700 block of South 146th Street.

Detectives found Vincent Housley at one of the motel rooms. He had used his father’s credit card to pay for the room. The son agreed to talk to detectives at a nearby police station about the death of his parents.

Dennis Housley, who lives in Oregon, had asked deputies to check on his parents Feb. 4. He had become concerned after he was unable to reach his parents for several days. The deputies found the house locked with no sign of forced entry. Dennis and Nancy Housley arrived at the house later on Feb. 4 and found the bodies inside.