Tied up in the court system for 15 years, the extremely long and winding road of an Auburn murder case against William Phillip Jr. for killing city of Kent employee Seth Frankel in 2010, finally concluded.

“Justice has failed this family,” King County Superior Court Judge Kristin Ballinger said prior to sentencing Phillip for second-degree murder to 18 years, four months in a courtroom Dec. 19 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. “The system has failed you. You are right that you all have borne for 15 years the brunt, the force of that failure.”

Despite an arrest of Phillip by Auburn Police seven months after the May 21, 2010, fatal stabbing inside the Auburn home of Frankel, 41, a father of two young girls and city of Kent videographer, family and friends of Frankel wondered if the case would ever end.

A first trial in 2013 ended in a hung jury when one juror didn’t agree to convict Phillip of murder. A jury in 2014 convicted Phillip of first-degree murder. A judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison. But the case was far from over.

The state Court of Appeals agreed in 2017 with a defense motion to overturn the conviction. The court found that warrants obtained by the state in 2010 and 2012 to collect his cellphone data that put Phillip in the area of the murder lacked probable cause and ordered a new trial. Over the next eight years, continual appeals and rulings postponed a trial date.

Prosecutors were able to get the cellphone evidence admitted again.

“Between 2017 and 2023, the parties litigated a number of legal issues, which involved two more appeals,” according to an email from Douglas Wagoner, spokesperson for King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “The matter was finally returned back to the trial court in early 2024. Between January of 2024 and September of 2025, the parties litigated several additional issues before the trial court.”

It wasn’t until the state agreed to reduce the first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder that Phillip pleaded guilty Sept. 16. The family of Frankel said they agreed with prosecutors seeking a guilty plea in order to bring the case to a close.

“I think it is highly unusual for a case to be filed and take this long to come to a conclusion,” said Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Hinds during an interview after the Dec. 19 sentencing. “It can can take a long time to solve a murder and have a cold case get filed. It’s pretty unusual for a case to be solved, filed and spend 15 years time of filing and then a resolution.”

While Hinds prosecuted the case since the start, Phillip had 10 public defenders over the 15 years, according to court documents. The defense attorneys work (or worked) for the King County Department of Public Defense, which provides legal representation to adults and youth who have been charged with a crime and cannot afford an attorney.

“I don’t quite understand why it had to take so long,” said Christie Frankel-Barton, the ex-wife of Frankel during an interview after the sentencing. “I don’t think it (the delay) has ever been the prosecution. There was clear evidence that should’ve been there.”

Frankel-Barton maintained a close relationship with Seth Frankel as they raised their two young girls, who were ages 4 and 7 at the time of the killing. She appreciated the judge ordered the maximum sentenced allowed under state law.

“As a family we’ve been switching gears and have been trying 15 years to live the life he (Seth) would’ve wanted to bring joy into lives,” Frankel-Barton said. “It will be nice to not have this hanging in the background like a shadow interrupting our attempts for that.”

But the years of waiting for a conclusion and even the sentencing itself doesn’t fill the hole left by the death of Frankel.

“Most people don’t realize along the way that nothing brings him back,” Frankel-Barton said. “Nothing makes me feel better, but I can look at (his) photos and have good memories and not worry about another legal thing happening or if the person will be held accountable for the crime.”

Maile Frankel, 19, one of two daughters of Seth Frankel, speaks to the judge about the impact of losing her father at the age of 4. Photo by Steve Hunter/Sound Publishing

Family, friends speak to judge

Frankel-Barton was one of eight family members or friends who spoke to the judge in the courtroom prior to the sentencing.

“It was most painful for my girls not getting to know him and feel the love he had for them,” Frankel-Barton said as she wiped away tears with a tissue. “He loved them so much and they were the most important focus in his life.”

Maile Frankel, now 19 and the youngest daughter of Seth Frankel, told the judge it’s tough for her to recall much about her father since she was only 4 when he was killed.

“I try to remember him but they are fuzzy,” she said.

Maile Frankel said she would sleep with her mom every night, afraid that what happened to her dad might happen to her mother.

“Subconsciously I needed to make sure she was OK,” Maile Frankel said.

Maile Frankel said she missed out on a lot because of Phillip’s actions.

“What hurts me most is I had no opportunity to know my dad,” she said. “I missed out on his life. He had endless wisdom. …I’m angry that I have had to live my entire life without him.”

Emily Frankel Markiewicz, the mother of Seth Frankel, told the judge what she has gone through.

“Nobody will ever know what it’s like to get a phone call that your son has been violently murdered,” she said. “One day I get a picture of Maile, Abigail and Seth for Mother’s Day and less than 20 days later he’s dead, he’s dead, he’s gone. …there’s no more Seth.”

Markiewicz expressed her anger toward Phillip, who had a blank stare as he looked at the speakers.

“You don’t really care that you killed Seth,” she said. “It doesn’t matter to you that you killed Seth, that you tied us up in this horrible situation for 15 years and we had to come back time and again to see pictures of our murdered son with his thumb hanging off dead on a floor.”

Markiewicz explained the impact on the family.

“My grandchildren are devastated,” she said. “His ex wife is devastated. Her parents are devastated. Everybody is devastated.”

She looked at Phillip.

“He sits here with no remorse, no I’m sorry or bad judgement,” she said.

John Barton, the husband of Christine Frankel-Barton, spoke to the judge about the extreme length of the case in court, from the mistrial to the guilty verdict to the Court of Appeals overturning the verdict and then the numerous appeals.

“Eight years of appeals and motions on the defendant’s behalf to avoid accountability of his crime,” Barton said. “The defense exhausted every available avenue to delay the trial. The unfortunate result of the justice process is that Seth’s family, friends and loved ones were left with the innocent until proven guilty for 15 years with the prospect of a trial hanging over us like a storm cloud. …trial dates set only to be pushed out.”

Seth Frankel worked as a city of Kent videographer prior to his 2010 murder. File photo

‘Brutal, senseless murder’

Hinds, the prosecuting attorney, explained why the judge should give the highest sentenced allowed, which the defense agreed to as well.

“This was a brutal murder,” Hinds said. “It’s not really clear still what happened in the living room where the defendant murdered Mr. Frankel in the seconds or minutes that led up to that murder. Mr. Phillip attempt to restrain Mr. Frankel with zip ties found in the room and around Mr. Frankel’s arm and struggle wounds to Mr. Frankel, injuries on Mr. Frankel’s body. …He spent the last moments in life in terror and pain as a result of what was done to him by the defendant.”

Hinds also called it a senseless murder.

“Why did this happen? That answer appears to be as simple as it is senseless,” Hinds said. “Mr. Phillip violently attacked and killed Mr. Frankel because he was angry and hateful towards him, he was enraged that Mr. Frankel had captured the heart of Bonny Johnson, a woman he was obsessed with and possessive of.”

Hinds said that Frankel and Phillip apparently never met.

“He was eliminating a rival and wanted to punish Bonny Johnson for being happy (with Seth Frankel) after leaving him and clearing the way to be together again,” Hinds said.

Hinds said evidence shows that Phillip obtained a car, a weapon and zip ties and drove almost 200 miles from Portland to Auburn to get Frankel.

“About nine hours elapsed after he left Portland until the death of Mr. Frankel, giving him plenty of time to think and reconsider and change his mind and not go through with this, but he did go through with it,” Hinds said.

Hinds criticized the lack of remorse shown by Phillip.

“After committing violent and up-close murder, he simply drove himself back to Portland, called a friend and talked about drinking beer and watching soccer,” Hinds said. “He then sent flirtatious text messages to Bonny Johnson.”

Hinds said there still appears to be very little material from Phillip that truly expresses remorse for what he did, showing regret for what happened but very little ownership and responsibility.

Defense speaks for Phillip

Public defender Kaitlyn Aiken, who took over the case in 2024, told the judge that this was the first conviction for Phillip, who is now 45 after committing the killing at age 29.

“Now his first conviction was a very serious crime, but it shows a complete aberration of his behavior,” Aiken said. “He was not living a life of crime.”

Aiken said Phillip was active in the military before the killing, deployed in Iraq as a Marine Corps member. She said since the murder he has worked with a veterans program at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent and received support from them.

Phillip spent about three years in the state prison system after his 2014 conviction, but was returned to the King County jail system after the Court of Appeals threw out the conviction. He has spent about 12 years in county jail, a place where most murder suspects are only held until their trial or guilty plea, which can take up to a few years but rarely a dozen years.

“By definition you’re only supposed to serve brief amount of time in a county facility,” Aiken said. “He served a long time and has done the best he can to rehabilitate himself.”

Phillip receives credit for time served in jail, so he is expected to serve about three years to complete his 18-year sentence.

The mother of Phillip came up from Oregon to attend the sentencing, but did not speak in court. Aiken said Phillip will have the support of his mother and cousins when he’s released.

“Public speaking is not her thing,” Aiken said about the mother of Phillip not speaking in court.

Aiken said the case had many legal issues, which is why it went on for so long. She said Phillip didn’t want a third trial for himself, his family or the Frankel family.

Aiken tried to explain to the judge and the Frankel family why Phillip didn’t speak in court.

“He said people want him to say I’m sorry, but Mr. Phillip is aware that won’t change what happened. …he says he has changed and is not the same person he was and he found a community of support through the veterans program and his family,” Aiken said.

Despite that comment, Judge Ballinger still asked Phillip if he had anything to say prior to her sentencing of him.

“No, your honor,” Phillip replied.

It didn’t surprise Frankel-Barton that Phillip didn’t speak.

“I didn’t really expect him to,” she said after the sentencing. “I’ve never seen one emotion on his face in any hearing.”

Frankel-Barton said she fears whether Phillip will have any opportunity to change, to rehabilitate, especially with so many years in the county jail system rather than the state prison system which offers way more programs for inmates.

She’s unsure how much help he received in the county jail in Kent after the comments by his defense attorney.

“I’m glad to hear a little something was there, but not a lot was there it sounds like,” she said.

Judge Ballinger speaks

After hearing from everyone who wanted to speak, Ballinger had a few comments before issuing her sentence.

“It’s indescribable what happened to your dad but even more indescribable is the loss you’ve had to live with for the last 15 years,” Ballinger said to Seth Frankel’s two daughters, now ages 23 and 19. “It is heartbreaking to talk to you and your sister about the death of your dad.”

Ballinger also had a message for Markiewicz, Seth Frankel’s mother, and to Frankel-Barton, the mother of his two girls.

“It is heartbreaking to see and know what a mom has to go through and the helplessness you must have felt knowing there was nothing you could do for this person who you raised that is now dead in such a horrible way,” she said. “And nothing you can do for your girls to fix this problem. We all want to fix problems and this problem is not fixable.”

Ballinger delivered a message to Bonny Johnson, the girlfriend of Seth Frankel, who was in court but chose not to speak.

“What you have lived through is not just heartbreaking but unimaginable. …I just can’t imagine what you’ve gone through for the last 15 years,” she said.

The judge then ended the case as she sentenced Phillip to the high end of 18 years, four months and 36 months of community custody after his release.