A Gig Harbor man who pleaded guilty to murder for fatally shooting a 76-year-old neighbor he suspected of intentionally scaring off wildlife in his yard was sentenced Monday to 17 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Mark Allen Erisman, 61, lived an isolated life at his home west of the city, and he came to think of the birds and small animals that lived in the neighborhood of single-family houses as a sort of surrogate family. He had a history of generally tense interactions with people in the area, including the woman he eventually killed in her home across the street from him on Valley View Drive, Diane Michele Perron.
Erisman also had mental health issues, according to court records, and he believed that Perron had set up devices in her yard that were somehow keeping animals away. The devices were surveillance cameras. Neighbors suggested to detectives that Erisman had tried to break into Perron's house before, and the victim told a neighbor she was installing the cameras because she had concerns about the man.
"He apparently came to believe that Ms. Peron and others were conspiring to alienate the small creatures that he thought of as his family," deputy prosecuting attorney Thomas Howe wrote in court filings. "He apparently came to view killing Ms. Perron's death as a solution to his situation."
Perron's cameras captured Erisman going to her house when the shooting occurred, according to court records. Erisman was sitting in a chair in his open garage at about 3 p.m. when Perron went outside to get her mail. Two minutes later, he approached her house with a handgun and could reportedly be heard saying, "Die today," while looking directly at the video camera.
Perron was described as a "neighborhood grandma" who was beloved by everyone, according to previous reporting from The News Tribune. More than a dozen people submitted victim statements to the court prior to sentencing, including neighbors, friends and relatives.
The victim's daughter, Michele Bathurst, spoke in court Monday morning alongside her brother and Perron's daughter-in-law, according to court records. In her written statement, Bathurst asked that the court give Erisman the longest amount of time possible so their family could begin to heal with the reassurance that he would be locked away.
Bathurst wrote that her mother loved to help her family and her community, knitting hats for cancer patients and making masks during the COVID-19 pandemic for neighbors. Bathurst said her mother was her best friend. She added that she was not able to see Perron's body for their final goodbyes because Erisman had shot her so many times.
"I hope that while Mr. Erisman is in prison that he suffers greatly," Bathurst wrote. "I hope he dies on a cold prison floor, the same way my mother died — scared and alone."
Erisman pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder for the Oct. 3, 2020 killing. He originally was charged with first-degree murder. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Grant Blinn on Monday gave the defendant 207 months in prison, including a 60-month firearm sentencing enhancement, near the high end of the standard sentencing range for defendants prosecuted in similar cases, 123 to 220 months. Prosecutors noted that Erisman had lawfully owned a firearm for "a long time."
The punishment was in line with prosecutors' recommendation. Howe wrote in court filings that it significantly reduced the penalty from the sentencing range that would apply if Erisman were convicted at trial, but that it still imposed a significant sentence considering Erisman's age.
Erisman's mental competency to stand trial was called into question while the case went on. A psychologist from the state Department of Social and Health Services diagnosed him with unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder about a month after he was arrested. She found that he lacked the capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings or assist in his own defense.
The defendant was ordered to two 90-day periods of competency restoration at Western State Hospital.
In April 2022, Erisman's competency had improved to the point that a judge declared him fit to proceed to trial. According to his psychological evaluation, he still met diagnostic criteria for schizotypal personality disorder, with paranoid features, as well as major depressive disorder and cannabis- and alcohol-use disorders.
Another psychological evaluation was ordered to determine Erisman's sanity at the time of the shooting. Records show that two psychologists from DSHS found that Erisman was able to perceive the nature and quality of the act he was charged with, and he could tell right from wrong in regard to shooting Perron.
"Application of the statutes and case law that govern the potential defenses of insanity and diminished capacity suggests that Mr. Erisman has an 'imperfect' mental defense — that his actions were strongly influenced by his mental disease, but not to the extent or in the manner that would relieve him of legal responsibility for killing Ms. Perron," Howe wrote in court records.
Erisman told his version of events to the psychological evaluators, stating that before the shooting, he saw Perron trimming hedges in her yard, and he believed she was exposing a device for a "clearer shot." He said Perron went to get her mail, and he thought the woman was laughing at him.
"Something came over me, took over my body, and I went and I got my gun," Erisman reportedly said. "I walked across the street and I kicked her door. Shot her. It's like it wasn't me. Something's doing this. It was like evil took over my body."
Erisman also shot at the device in Perron's yard with his handgun. Neighbors recalled hearing five gunshots. The medical examiner later found Perron died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Law enforcement from multiple agencies searched for Erisman. His vehicle was found at about 9 p.m. that evening on Ruston Way, and Erisman was walking nearby. While being detained he reportedly said, "You got me," and "The gun is in the car."
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