Panther Lake man gets 50 years for killing his parents

A King County Superior Court Judge on Friday sentenced Vincent Wayne Housley to 50 years in prison for killing his parents in their Panther Lake home during a cocaine-induced rage and after an argument with them about his drug use.

“I’ve done a horrendous thing,” Housley told Judge Andrea Darvas before he was sentenced in a courtroom at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. “It’s something I can never take back. I am very sorry for what I did. I don’t remember doing it, but I take responsibility.”

Housley, 43, then turned toward his younger brother Dennis in the courtroom.

“Dennis, I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” Vincent Housley said.

Housley pleaded guilty Feb. 23 to two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Feb. 1 slaying of his parents, Joe and Karen Housley, in their home in unincorporated Kent. Housley told police he was high on cocaine when he committed the act.

John Castleton, senior deputy prosecuting attorney, recommended a sentence of 55 years. Rick Lichtenstadter, defense attorney, recommended a minimum sentence of 44 years.

“No matter what sentence I give, you will spend the rest of your life in prison and that’s the way it should be,” Darvas said. “I think 50 years is an appropriate sentence because two people will never walk the earth again because of the actions you took.”

According to charging papeers, 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, admitted to detectives that he had beaten and stabbed his mother and father during an argument with them over his drug use.

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