Victims speak at sentencing

PALMER -- A murder leaves ripples of loss, anger and grief in its wake. Those waves are most often felt in private, but on occasion they break in such public places as churches and courtrooms.

The sentencing of Tom Horsey including far more than legal rulings when relatives of Jane Sasseen expressed their anger and loss to her killer and the court. Defense attorney Greg Heath sparked some emotions by describing his client as "honorable" early on in the proceedings.

"It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you did and not hide behind the legal tactics of an attorney," Heath said.

"Mr. Horsey is not an honorable man. He is not a decent man," Yvette Sasseen, daughter to the victim, told the courtroom over the telephone. "Mr. Horsey, at the age of 52, chose to do very dishonorable, very horrible things."

Joan Hammacher of Palmer, Jane Sasseen's sister, spoke directly to Horsey and told him he had choices to make even up to the last moments of her sister's life.

"In that last instant, all you had to do was walk away. She would not have hurt you," Hammacher said. "… there is no punishment that would compensate for Jane's life."

Sasseen's brother-in-law Raymond A. Nesbett read from transcripts of an interview with Alaska State Troopers in which Horsey confessed. Horsey told troopers that "things just happened" while he was robbing Sasseen at gun point.

" … even two weeks after this happened he is still blaming the gun for going off," Nesbett said.

There was also evidence of premeditation in the interview, according to Nesbett.

"He put on the gloves, by his own statement, after he went into the house," Nesbett said. Sasseen was shot three times. Nesbett told the court that the third shot proved that Horsey was not out of control.

"This was not a burglary gone bad. This was a deliberate execution to avoid leaving behind any witnesses to what he had done," Nesbett said.

Sasseen's relatives described her as a caring woman who went to church and enjoyed quilting. She would not have hurt anyone, Hammacher said, even out of vengeance. The first thing Jane Sasseen said when she met her killer was, "May I help you?," according to Nesbett.

Wilbur Ouzts and some of his family members also spoke. In February of 2002, Ouzts's home was burglarized and burned down. Ouzts said a gun stolen from his home was used to kill Sasseen. After the fire, Ouzts's grandson, Nathan wrote a letter that addressed the arson directly and sent it off to newspapers. The letter was composed as sarcasm, but also contained a poignant reminder of Jane Sasseen, a woman Nathan Ouzts never knew.

"Thank you," Ouzts wrote. "For tearing a hole in my family's quilt."