A convicted drug user was sentenced to 35 years in prison Thursday for the home-invasion slaying of a Vancouver man.
Caleb E. Soucy, 28, who has convictions for possessing methamphetamine and jumping bail, was one of four masked gunmen who broke into a home in the 5300 block of St. James Road on Dec. 13.
Charles N. Moore, 46, who lived in the home with two roommates, was shot dead after confronting one of the gunmen, alleged to be Douglas A. Marquis.
Soucy pleaded guilty July 26 to first-degree felony murder.
In a felony murder case, prosecutors need only to prove the defendant committed a felony (robbery, in this case) and in the course of that felony a murder was committed.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Roger Bennett said the crime “illustrates the decline of society in general,” and particularly in Vancouver, where “rampant” use of methamphetamine and Oxycontin, coupled with a resurgence of heroin use, has led to “an explosion of violent property crimes.”
Detectives from the Vancouver Police Department started making arrests in the case in April.
The group’s getaway driver, Minna R. Long, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of first-degree robbery. She faces between 10 and 14 years in prison but her sentencing was deferred until January so Long, who is pregnant with twins, can live with her parents until she gives birth. Her due date is Dec. 24.
Soucy is the expectant father of the twins.
Marquis and the other defendants are awaiting trial.
For a complete story, read Friday’s newspaper.
