A King County Superior Court judge on Jan. 13 sentenced Tracy Floren to 30 years in prison for the shooting death of Floren’s wife in 2007 at their Panther Lake home in unincorporated Kent.
Judge Harry McCarthy issued the sentence at the King County Courthouse in Seattle to Floren, 66.
A jury last month found Floren guilty of first-degree murder. The jury deliberated for two days.
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. She had been shot twice in the head, according to charging papers.
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 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 Floren were consistent with ammunition for a .22-caliber handgun. Investigators determined that Floren has a .22-caliber handgun registered to him that cannot be accounted for.
Friends of Nancy Floren told detectives that Tracy Floren’s drinking had caused problems in their marriage. Tracy Floren reportedly told his alcohol-treatment provider that he felt unloved and unsupported by his wife and that he became angry when she tried to control his money.
Detectives discovered that Tracy Floren wanted out of the marriage and had been searching online for mail-order brides. Nancy Floren worked as a chief financial officer at Husky International Trucks of Seattle at the time of her death.
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