Waterman Guilty of Criminally Negligent Homicide in 2nd Trial

February 17, 2011|By Ashton Goodell | Channel 2 News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A jury convicted Rachelle Waterman of criminally negligent homicide Thursday afternoon, after a week of deliberations. Waterman was 16 years old when she was arrested in 2004 for colluding with two men to kill her mother, Lauri Waterman.

She was found not guilty of Murder 1, Felony murder, kidnapping, burglary and attempted murder.

Jason Arrant and Brian Radel, both 24 at the time of the murder, pleaded guilty to killing Lauri Waterman.

The pair wanted to make the murder look like a drunk-driving crash, but the plan went wrong from the start. They were unable to break Lauri Waterman's neck to make it look like an accident. The men then tried to crush her neck and ultimately suffocated her along a remote road on Prince of Wales Island. In an attempt to cover up the beating, the men burned the body in the family minivan.

Both men testified during the first trial, but had opposite views on Waterman's role in the plan. Arrant gave her up to police, the defense says, to salvage the remainder of his life by negotiating a lighter prison sentence. Radel never talked to Waterman about the plot, and claims Arrant lied to him about Waterman's involvement. Radel says Waterman was purposely kept out of the loop so she couldn't give details to police later.

Waterman told friends she hated her mom for prolonged emotional and physical abuse. Prosecutors believe Waterman lied about the abuse, but used it motivate her boyfriend to protect her from her mother. They say the girl resented her mother's control, portraying Waterman as a teenage drama queen with a desire to kill.

In the days following the murder Arrant said Waterman expressed disappointment because she was hoping she would inherit her mother's van after the murder, a self-absorbed reaction to her mother's death, prosecutors say.

An investigator called Waterman an "up-and-coming black widow" who convinced two gullible men to kill her mother. In a police interrogation tape Waterman said she knew about the murder plot but tried to call it off. Prosecutors say it seems the men were under Waterman's direction -- she was the puppetmaster pulling the strings of her hit men, they say.

"Cold feet isn't a defense to murder," prosecutor Stephen West said before handing the case over to the jury.

During the trial, defense attorney Steven Wells skimmed over the abuse. He painted a picture of an immature, vulnerable girl who confided in the wrong person. Wells says Waterman vented frustration about her mom and even jokingly said she wished her mother would die, but he says it was misguided angst she never intended to act upon.

Witnesses say Arrant had a tendency to be violent. The defense read Arrant's love letters that indicated Lauri Waterman didn't approve of her teenage daughter's relationship with a 24-year-old man. Wells suggests Arrant came up with the murder plot to get unfettered access to Rachelle.

Waterman was in Anchorage at the time of the murder. She didn't provide the men a key or a way into the house, Wells points out.

This is the second trial for Waterman. The first ended in a hung jury after five days of deliberation. This time, the jury took longer but managed to come up with a verdict.

Waterman will be sentenced in June in Craig, where the crime happened.

Contact Ashton Goodell at agoodell@ktuu.com

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