Western State Hospital escapee charged with murder again

A man police say brutally murdered a young Lake Stevens woman then escaped from Western State Hospital is being charged with the crime—again.

Anthony Garver, 29, had been in Western State since the 2013 killing, but he escaped along with another man last April.

After two days on the run he was captured in Spokane. The facility then determined he is competent to stand trial.

As a result, the Snohomish County deputy prosecutor said he re-filed murder charges and Garver was taken from Spokane to the Snohomish County Jail on Monday.

Deputy Prosecutor Matt Hunter says he is confident this time Garver’s charge will stick.

Garver uttered only a few words in Snohomish County Court Tuesday, and he spoke them slowly, as if trying to process the two basic questions.

But last week a US District Court judge ruled this behavior is just an act.

A new affidavit submitted by Snohomish County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Hunter says a judge found Garver “logical, coherent, and goal-directed” when talking about his civil commitment to Western State Hospital and that Garver told a treatment team he could function if released in the community—yet then said his “severe psychosis” would prevent him in assisting in his defense.

Garver is accused of brutally murdering 20-year-old Phillipa Evans-Lopez in her Lake Stevens home in July, 2013.

Police said he tied her to her bed with electrical cords, stabbed her 24 times, then slit her throat.

“I think he’s dangerous, obviously, the way my daughter died, nobody deserves to die like that,” Kris Evans, Phillipa’s mother, said in April when Garver escaped.

She said she wants him locked up—whether in the hospital or in prison.

Prosecutors are convinced this time it will be prison.

Last week a Snohomish County judge ruled Garver is a danger to the community and set his bond at $15 million.

On Tuesday, his bond was revoked.

Cox Media Group