‘True accountability’ achieved: Baim guilty of murdering Nick Valison

Andrew Baim has been found guilty of murdering Ravensdale resident Nick Valison.

The guilty verdict came Sept. 5, a day after attorneys gave their final statements.

The courtroom at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent was filled with friends and family, many of them wearing green — Valison’s favorite color. Quiet sobs could be heard as the verdict was read aloud; a clear tension was lifted from the room.

“We made it,” Tanie Valison said, thanking everyone involved from the start of her husband’s murder to this point: King County Sheriff’s Office and its detectives, the prosecuting office, her victim advocate, and her community “for their compassion and diligence while supporting our family as we navigate through the judicial process while traveling this daunting world of homicide survivorship.

“My husband Nick was an honorable man,” she continued. “He is loved and missed every single day, and with this verdict, we can continue to honor him while also knowing the person who took him from this world will face true accountability.”

The Black Diamond resident was found guilty of second-degree murder when he killed Valison with a stolen truck on Sept. 21, 2023 in Ravensdale, but not guilty of killing him with intent; the jury could not come to an agreement on the latter. However, this will not affect sentencing, prosecutors said.

Ravensdale is about 13 miles east of Kent.

He was also found guilty of arson and two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle.

Second-degree murder is a Class A felony and is punishable by at least 20 years in prison.

CLOSING ARGUMENTS

That Baim killed Valison appeared not to be in question during the trial, as well as the fact that Baim had possession of a stolen truck and U-Haul and, after Valison’s death, torched the truck.

Instead, the trial focused on the finer details of intent — whether or not Baim had meant to kill Valison — and ended with both the defense and prosecution accusing the other’s witnesses or experts as unreliable or not credible.

Prosecutor Logan Bryant argued that there was no way Baim could not have known he would seriously injure or kill Valison when Baim ran over Valison with the truck.

Testifying to this was Alyssa Montano and Bart McMurray, the only two witnesses to Valison’s death and, as the defense was quick to point out, accomplices. Neither were charged along with Baim, and Montano received immunity for her testimony.

McMurray did not get immunity for his testimony.

Both Montano and McMurray testified that after Valison confronted the trio about the illegal dumping, which was an ongoing issue in Valison’s neighborhood, Valison got in front of the truck in an attempt to keep Baim and the other two from fleeing the area.

They said Baim revved the engine several times to intimidate Valison, and then started to inch the truck forward, pushing Valison back.

At some point, Bryant said, Valison fell — whether he tripped or was pushed over is not clear.

But when he went down, Baim put his foot on the gas pedal and sped away.

“This was not an accident,” Bryant said. “[Baim] knew exactly where Mr. Valison was at.”

Corroborating Montano and McMurray was one of Valison’s neighbors, who testified that she heard the revving of an engine, although she did not see the truck.

The defense, headed by Gilbert Levy, attempted to cast doubt on Montano and McMurray’s testimony by pointing out the two admitted to using drugs that morning, and that there are times their accounts did not match up.

Levy said the jury should be “skeptical” of Montano’s testimony because of her immunity agreement.

“She has motivation to characterize her testimony in a manner that favors the state,” he continued, adding that at the time of the killing, “she was as high as a kite.”

But Bryant pointed out that Montano voluntarily came forward to law enforcement after the murder with the same account two years ago.

He also added that the defense was denigrating Montano, as the testimony she gave was that she used substances that morning, not that she was in an altered state at the time of the killing. Bryant also pointed out that most of the rest of her testimony was corroborated with video evidence.

“Just because a witness uses drugs does not mean they’re not credible,” Bryant said.

Levy wasn’t without his own expert opinion and brought former traffic detective and current collision analysis and reconstruction expert Steve Harbinson to the stand.

According to Harbinson, Valison was not struck by the pickup before he fell, but was instead keeping pace with the truck on the driver’s side when he fell.

“Mr. Baim had no ability to bring his vehicle to a stop,” Levy said. “… It was simply and unfortunately an accident.”

Bryant took this opportunity to paint Harbinson as not credible, saying that he did not interview any witnesses or perform his own investigation.

“He got paid $12,000 to $13,000 for this case,” Bryant said. “And what did he do for that money? … Did he interview anyone? … Did he do his own investigation? No. He took the materials that the detectives did, reviewed them, and he gets paid $12,000 to $13,000.”

Levy also claimed there was no possible way Valison could have fallen and been injured in the way he was without falling next to the truck; Bryant said a medical examiner’s report explained how Valison sustained the injuries in the way he did.

Black Diamond resident Andrew Baim being led out of the courtroom after the jury started deliberating his verdict. Photo by Ray Miller-Still