Angry words erupt at Hacheney sentencing

Nicholas Hacheney

Nicholas Hacheney

Family members of the late Dawn Hacheney seemed intent on remembering their daughter and not attacking her convicted killer, Nicholas Hacheney, as they assembled Friday in court -- until Hacheney began talking of his love for his deceased wife.

Then Dawn Hacheney's father and a brother erupted in anger.

All were in the courtroom of Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Anna Laurie to hear her pronounce a sentence of life in prison without parole against Hacheney.

It was the only possible sentence after a jury found Hacheney guilty Dec. 26 of aggravated, premeditated first-degree murder in the 1997 death of his wife.

Dawn Hacheney's father, Don Tienhaara; Don's ex-wife, Diane; and Dawn's brother Dennis addressed the court. The three talked about their faith that Dawn was in heaven.

"To be absent from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord," Don Tienhaara told Laurie. "The pain Satan has brought to me and my family is hard to take."

Dennis Tienhaara called her "a beautiful reflection of the love of Christ."

"The news of Nick's arrest shook me to the core. Suddenly, nothing made sense. It became difficult to see Dawn dancing in heaven, smiling down on us.

"To Nick's family and friends, there really are no words to say to make sense of this, but know my heart and prayers are with you during your journey of healing."

Diane Tienhaara said she repeatedly asks herself: "How could anyone, especially her husband, kill Dawn? How could someone who was so loved so many be taken from all of us?

"I can understand Nick's parents standing behind him. The Nick we all knew didn't commit the crime. I bear no hard feelings toward Nick or his family. My hatred is for the evil that can possess someone.

"I pray Nick will come to the realization of what he did and come to the point of truth."

But hard feelings lay just below the surface, and they flowed out as Hacheney denied that he killed his wife.

"I did not murder Dawn," he said. "There are a lot of things I regret, that I wish I could take back and undo. I'm sorry for the pain of going through this trial and losing your daughter.

"Dawn was kind and beautiful and true. She deserved better than me. I loved her with all my heart."

Don Tienhaara jumped to his feet and yelled, "Then why didn't you even buy a headstone for her?"

"You don't know when to give up," Daric Tienhaara, another brother of Dawn, added just as loudly.

"Mr. Tienhaara ...," Laurie called out, preparing to order his silence.

"He didn't even buy a headstone, your honor," Don Tienhaara protested.

Daric Tienhaara left the courtroom with tears in his eyes, accompanied victim's advocate Kelly Pelland. The other three family members remained.

Hacheney said earlier that he had learned a lot about the justice system in the 17 months since his arrest.

"The one thing I know that didn't happen is the truth hasn't been spoken," he said. Deputy Prosecutors Neil Wachter and Claire Bradley "spoke often about this trial being a mosaic. In a mosaic, you cut out a whole bunch of pieces and you trim and twist them to present a picture.

"I guess they are to be congratulated for painting the most believable mosaic."

People have asked him why he didn't accept offers to plead to a crime with a penalty lower than life in prison. "I will never confess to something I did not do," he said. "As God as my witness, I am not guilty of this crime."

Dawn Hacheney's death was ruled accidental after her body was found in the burned bedroom of the couple's East Bremerton home in December 1997.

That all changed in 2001 when Sandra Glass, a female parishioner of the church in which Nick Hacheney was a preacher, told police that she had been having an affair with him at the time of his wife's death and that he confessed months later that he had killed her.

Glass said he told her he overdosed Dawn on Benadryl, suffocated here with a plastic bag and set their house on fire, she testified in court.

Three other church women testified that they were involved in sexual affairs with Hacheney in weeks immediately following the death. Prosecutors argued that the murder was committed to free Hacheney to be with other women.

<em>Reach reporter Travis Baker at (360) 792-9217 or at</em>


  • Discuss
  • Print

Comments » 0

Be the first to post a comment!

Share your thoughts



