A King County Superior Court jury in Seattle found a 66-year-old Kent man guilty of first-degree murder Thursday in connection with the shooting death of his wife in 2007 at their Panther Lake home.
The jury returned with a guilty verdict against Tracy Floren after two days of deliberation, according to an e-mail from Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Floren faces a sentencing range of 25 to 31 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 13 before Judge Harry McCarthy.
King County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Floren for investigation of first-degree murder in March 2008 in connection with the shooting death of Nancy Floren, 56. Deputies found the body of Nancy Floren Sept. 2, 2007 at her home in the 20300 block of 102nd Avenue Southeast, in the Panther Lake area of unincorporated Kent. She had been shot twice in the head, according to charging papers.
Deputies arrested Floren, a retired Boeing employee, in Sequim at the construction site of a residence that was to be the couple’s dream home. They were married for more than 20 years.
Over several months after the death of Nancy Floren, detectives used physical evidence found at the home as well as contradictory statements made to detectives by Floren that led to his arrest.
Deputies found a revolver next to Nancy Floren’s body, but it was not the murder weapon, according to the charging papers. The gun used in the homicide has not been found. The home had not been ransacked and nothing appeared to be missing.
Tracy Floren had claimed to detectives that someone had broken into the home.
About 90 minutes after deputies found the body of Nancy Floren, Tracy Floren drove into the driveway of the couple’s home, according to the charging papers.
Tracy Floren told deputies he had left the home shortly after 5 a.m. on Sept. 2 to attend a 6:30 a.m. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Kent. He said he had stopped at a convenience store to buy a coffee and pastry before the meeting and that he saw his wife asleep in bed when he left home. He said he arrived about 45 minutes early (at 5:45 a.m.) at his AA meeting to talk to other AA members.
Detectives later discovered that nobody else at the meeting had talked to or seen Floren until about 10 minutes before the meeting started at 6:30 a.m. The meeting site is about a 10-minute drive from Floren’s home.
State Patrol forensic experts determined bullet fragments recovered at the autopsy of Nancy Floren were consistent with ammunition for a .22-caliber handgun. Investigators determined that Floren has a .22-caliber handgun registered in his name for which he cannot account.
Friends and relatives of the victim told detectives that Tracy Floren’s drinking had caused problems in their marriage. Tracy Floren reportedly told his alcohol treatment provider at a center in Renton that he felt unloved and unsupported by his wife and that he became angry when she tried to control his money.
Floren remains in the county jail in Seattle on $4 million bail.
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