REDMOND, Wash. -- Jim Athan of Redmond planned to pick up his brother John from a prison in Aberdeen Monday, but last Friday John was told his parole had been suspended.
The Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board wants to hear from the victim s sister before granting John s release. John Athan is serving a 10 to 20 year sentence for the second degree murder of Kristen Sumstad of Seattle.
Jim said his brother is disappointed in the delay, but ultimately it s in the board s hands.
He just wants to be free and start from scratch. You know, he lost it all when he was arrested and you know what, rightfully so, Jim Athan said.
Jim said what his brother did was wrong, but he wants people to consider that John committed the crime when he was barely a teenager.
He was a boy, Jim said. I truly believe that he is remorseful. He's not this serial rapist, killer that people say he is. He was a 14-year-old kid, Jim said.
John Athan is 43 now, but he was 14 when he murdered 13-year-old Kristen Sumstad and left her partially nude body in a box behind a Magnolia TV store.
I do not believe for a minute that he ever intended on killing Kristen purposely, Jim said.
John got away with the crime for 20 years, until Seattle Police tricked him into licking an envelope and matched his DNA to a sample they d kept from the victim.
I didn t know, Jim said. I had a gut feeling he might have been responsible. Did I confront him? I did and he denied it.
Jim said years after his conviction, John wrote letters to his family confessing that he d killed Sumstad. Johnwas married and running a business in New Jersey when he was arrested. He lost his business and his marriage crumbled.
He has been in prison for seven years and spent a year in the King County Jail before he was convicted in 2004. Jim believes John has served enough time behind bars.
Last week, Sumstad s oldest sister, Lorraine Dean, told KING 5 News she was outraged to hear that Athan was scheduled for release on parole on June 6.
My little sister was taken from us. She s never coming back, Dean said. She was raped, she was murdered by someone who knew what he was doing and he got away with it for 20 years.
Jim said John would like to apologize to Sumstad s family, but he is barred from having any contact by a court order.
Jim has launched a Facebook page Free John N. Athan. On it he writes a long letter explaining what he believes happened and why his brother should not be considered a danger to the community.
Jim owns an Ironworks company and has a job waiting for John. He said he plans to take John into the Redmond home Jim shares with his wife and young daughter.
In explaining why John s release was delayed, the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board said they were unable to reach Lorraine Dean before making their final decision. After Dean s interview with KING 5 News last week, the board suspended John s release until they could hear from her. They expect that will happen within the next couple of weeks.
