End of a year-long trial saga: Judge sentences Daniel Lazcano to 27 years

Spokane Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno sentenced Daniel Lazcano to 27 years in prison Friday afternoon in Whitman County Superior Court. The Spokane judge noted the prison term was longer than the term assigned to Lazcano’s older brother, Frank, but she said she believes the difference was appropriate.

Before pronouncing the sentence, Judge Moreno checked on the sentence which had been assigned to Frank Lazcano after he was convicted of felony murder by a Whitman County jury last March.

Friday’s sentencing date was just two weeks short of the one-year mark for the saga of the Lazcano trials.

Daniel Lazcano’s first trial here started last Feb. 11, 2013, with Prosecutor Denis Tracy using the term vigilante to describe the chain of events leading to the shooting of Marcus Schur, 23, in an alley in Malden on the night of Dec. 27, 2011.

The first and second juries were unable to reach verdicts, and the third trial was moved to Spokane County with Judge Moreno presiding.

The Spokane jury convicted Daniel Lazcano of first degree murder Dec. 18, 2013, and he was returned to the jail here to await sentencing.

Lazcano’s defense attorney, Eric Christianson of Spokane, told the court Lazcano spent last summer working on a ranch at Washtucna after he had been allowed release after his second trial here.

Before pronoucing sentence Friday, Judge Moreno said she had been reviewing a packet of letters which had been filed with the court by Christianson. The letters told of Lazcano’s character and work ethic as a student at Eastern Washington University. Lazcano was also salutatorian of his class at Rosalia High School.

Judge Moreno noted the person described in the letters and the person involved in the Malden murder seemed like two different people.

The judge added the course of action taken by the brothers after Schur was fatally shot was “unspeakable.”

Schur’s body was placed in the outlet creek at Hole-in-the-Ground by the Lazcano brothers. Arrests in the case took place after the body was discovered by fishermen March 25, 2012, three months after the shooting.

Judge Moreno during her sentencing statement was interrupted by Schur’s mother, Gracie Schur of Rosalia. She said she hoped the court could come up with a conclusion which would “stand up for those who are the victims.”

The judge noted nothing in her decision was “ever going to make this all right.”

Proseutor Denis Tracy opened the hearing by noting Lazcano faced a sentencing range of 240 to 320 months for first degree muder. He also faced a 60-month term for using a gun while committing a felony. Daniel Lazcano was convicted of shooting Schur twice with an AK-47 rifle after Schur had been chased out the back door of a Malden residence by Frank Lazcano.

Tracy noted the attempt to hide the victim’s body and later the attempt to avoid conviction with an alibi during the three trials compounded Lazcano’s guilt.

David Kramer-Schur, brother of the victim, spoke briefly. He noted he was sorry for the toll taken by every family involved in the two-year saga.

In his brief statement to the court Lazcano, again breaking to tears, turned and apologized to members of both families seated in the courtroom.

Christianson before the sentencing filed a notice of an appeal of the conviction and at the end of Friday’s hearing asked the court to release Daniel Lazcano on bail pending a decision by the appeals court.

Judge Moreno denied the motion. She noted Daniel Lazcano was now facing a sentence which involved most of his adult life. She also pointed out that Lazcano had received the support of family and friends in the attempt to cover up the crime and that indicated a potential that he could enroll support to jump bail and flee at some point in the future.

Christianson said he was convinced the murder conviction will be overturned on an appeals ruling. The appeal hinges on the July 19 hearing when a plea bargain agreement for a manslaughter conviction was denied here by Judge David Frazier.

Before the trial in Spokane, Christianson had filed a motion which asked Judge Moreno to reverse Judge Frazier’s ruling and proceed with a conviction on a manslaughter plea. Judge Moreno denied the motion before the start of the Spokane trial last December.