EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - A jury has rejected claims of self-defense and found Simeon Berkley guilty of second-degree murder in a road-rage incident in Everett in 2019.
Berkley, 75, testified that Steven Whitemarsh had been aggressively tailgating his car around 7 p.m. July 6, 2019. Whitemarsh’s Lincoln Navigator crashed into the back of Berkley’s Honda Accord, the Everett Herald reported.
Berkley got out of his car and walked over to the Lincoln as Whitemarsh, 49, remained in the front seat. Berkley said he felt threatened by Whitemarsh so he shot the driver twice in the head with a .380-caliber pistol, killing him. Berkley claimed it was self-defense.
Whitemarsh was a Safeway manager and father of three. He died in the driver’s seat, still wearing his seatbelt. Family described him as “a great friend, co-worker, dad, son and brother” in a statement in 2019.
Berkley told jurors that he couldn’t predict what Whitemarsh would do, so he shot him.
“It was not something I really wanted to do,” Berkley testified. “But I don’t think Steven Whitemarsh, with his behavior, left me a choice.”
The jury began deliberating in the late afternoon Wednesday and returned the guilty verdict Thursday. Berkley is expected to face 15 to 22 years behind bars, the prosecutor said. A sentencing hearing is set for April 16.
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