SHELTON, Wash. — Prosecutors argued Friday that a state corrections officer accused of having his sister shoot him, on purpose, was under investigation for having a sexual relationship with a former inmate he was supposed to be supervising.
Former state Community Corrections Officer Christopher Floe pleaded not guilty in 2021 despite allegedly admitting to planning the shooting, which involved his sister, his sister, 34-year-old Caroline Harris, shooting him after he repeatedly asked her to.
Friday Floe's trial went before Mason County Judge Monty Cobb. Floe waived his right to a jury trial.
Mason County Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Bickerton argued Floe had his sister shoot him to potentially get out of trouble, receive disability payments, and perhaps praise.
”Mr. Floe wanted a way out and that is why he came up with this agreement. He did not want to work at the Department of Corrections anymore, but he wanted to still be paid for it. He wanted to go out a hero. He did not want to go out as somebody who was under investigation," said Bickerton.
Bickerton argued Floe should receive an exceptionally long sentence for what Bickerton called a "sophisticated" and planned event.
Floe's attorney, Richard Woodrow disputed that, calling it "unsophisticated."
"Almost ridiculous buffoonery that occurred here," said Woodrow.
Woodrow did not dispute the facts or evidence presented in the case, but he said his client did not deserve a long sentence.
"What Mr. Floe did was wrong," said Woodrow, "But it's wrong to hold him responsible for things he didn't do."
Woodrow said Harris could have said no when Floe asked her to shoot him.
"If Mr. Floe asked me to shoot him, and I shoot him, then I'm the person committing the crime," said Woodrow.
Judge Cobb is expected to announce a verdict in the coming weeks.
Harris is scheduled to go to trial in November.
The investigation began on Oct. 7, 2021 when officers with the Shelton Police Department responded to a shooting outside the Department of Corrections Office at North 4th Street and Alder Street.
Floe called 911 to report he’d been shot in the back by an unknown suspect, likely a male in dark clothing, who walked away, according to the probable cause documents. During the investigation, detectives said inconsistencies began to show in Floe’s statement.
A week after the shooting, when detectives said nearby surveillance video showed a car leaving the scene after the shooting, Floe allegedly admitted to detectives that he had talked his sister into shooting him.
When detectives contacted Harris, she confirmed that Floe had asked her to shoot him and gave her a firearm the day before the shooting. Harris said Floe had asked her multiple times to shoot him, with requests beginning about a week prior to the shooting.
On Oct. 7, Harris drove to Floe’s work where he had told her there were no cameras. Detectives said that Harris told them she had “chickened out” at first and then drove her vehicle and parked it next to Floe’s.
He was there and told her where to shoot him. She allegedly used both hands and fired one round, striking Floe. The round went through Floe’s forearm, and his lower back and exited through his abdomen before becoming lodged in his vehicle.
Harris then fled the scene, according to her arrest documents. She was arrested and later charged with conspiring to commit an assault, conspiring to commit a drive-by shooting, second-degree assault and drive-by shooting.