Thomasdinh Bowman sobbed through much of the hour-long hearing (Photo: Bryan Cohen)
In an emotion filled courtroom, a King County judge Friday afternoon sentenced Thomasdinh Bowman to 29 years in prison for murdering Capitol Hill QFC wine steward Yancy Noll in 2012. Judge Bruce Heller said Bowman, 32, “showed an utter detachment from the terror he caused” and displayed an “extreme lack of empathy for another human being.” Heller noted that Bowman had no prior criminal record and the shooting appeared to be out of character, but the judge was not convinced Bowman acted out of self-defense.
Bowman faced a maximum 32-year sentence for the murder under state sentencing guidelines. Sobbing through much of the hour-long hearing, Bowman asked the judge for mercy in a brief statement he gave before the sentence was delivered.
“I pray for the friends and family of Mr. Noll… that they’re able to find some closure in this horrible chapter of their lives,” Bowman said. “I’m disappointed that the jurors didn’t believe me.”
Defense attorney John Henry Browne said Bowman was sorry for what he had done, and that Bowman expressed his remorse when he attempted to commit suicide by slitting his wrist in jail the day he was found guilty.
