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A tearful Patricia Gilbert said Friday that she was blessed to live with her husband for 52 years and 19 days.
After all that time together, one of her most powerful memories is the final seconds of Edward Gilbert's life before he was killed by a speeding boat on the Columbia River.
"We had no time to say anything. We had no time to say what a person would like to say to someone she's loved for 52 years," she said.
"But the look Ed and I shared during that last moment has helped me through a very difficult time. This memory will be with me for the rest of my life."
Michael J. Nethercutt, 52, ended Ed Gilbert's life when he drove his boat while drunk.
Friday, an apologetic Nethercutt was ordered to serve two years and three months in prison in a plea deal that came with a reduced sentence and a second charge dropped.
"I'm not a bad person. I'm a person that made a very bad mistake, in selfish judgment and selfish character," Nethercutt said while facing Patricia Gilbert and about two dozen friends and relatives.
"I realize I have cheated you ... of a truly beautiful person," he added. "... I cheated you and your family and friends of Mr. Ed Gilbert. For that I will truly be sorry for the remainder of my life."
Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor said the deal was supported by the Gilbert family, who wanted to wrap up the criminal case and move on.
"There are no penalties that this court may ever impose" that will replace the loss, Patricia Gilbert said.
"This hearing brings to a close a very heartbreaking moment in our lives," she added. "Ed would want us to look toward the future as he did."
Nethercutt pleaded guilty in Benton County Superior Court to homicide by watercraft. A second count of assault by watercraft, relating to Patricia's injuries, was dismissed.
The standard sentencing range for the homicide crime is two years and seven months to three years and five months.
Both the prosecution and the defense agreed to a term four months below the minimum.
Judge Cameron Mitchell went along with the recommendation and commended Pat for her courage, compassion and grace in "addressing the court and dealing with this matter."
Mitchell recognized that Nethercutt has taken accountability for his actions and is trying to deal with his alcohol problems. He also noted that the Gilbert family "obviously craves and needs some closure to this matter."
All that justified a shorter sentence, Mitchell said.
Nethercutt was intoxicated -- with four times the legal limit of alcohol in his system -- when he drove his boat June 14 at 40 mph and crashed into an anchored cabin cruiser.
The impact caused Nethercutt's boat to go up in the air and land upstream.
The Gilberts' boat was about 200 feet offshore near Two Rivers Park in Finley.
Gilbert, 74, was killed instantly.
Witnesses said he was pulling in a dinghy when Nethercutt's boat headed straight for them.
"When Ed and I realized the boat wasn't going to turn, Ed took that second to look at me," said Pat, who was comforted by son-in-law Randy Barnes as she spoke for nearly 20 minutes. "I don't know if his eyes were looking to see where I was, or if he was telling me, 'I love you,' or if saying, 'Babe, I'm sorry I can't get out of this one.' "
Pat said she and her husband anticipated being together well into their 90s based on the longevity of their parents.
Many people asked why he didn't just jump to get out of the way. She said she later realized that her husband never would have jumped off the boat while she was still on it.
Gilbert believed in high morals, common sense and personal accountability and worked hard all his life to build a life he could be proud of, said Pat. He had survived two kinds of cancer and a stroke, yet instead of complaining or feeling sorry for himself he accepted things as they were.
Gilbert was a husband, dad, grandpa, great-grandpa, brother and friend, and to many in the Tri-Cities he was known as the founder of Hubby's Pizza in Kennewick.
"Ed had to be taken ... but he gave his family one of the best legacies he could have given us," Pat said. "Understand that bad things can happen to good people and that life may not be fair, but it's always got to be lived."
The day of the crash, Nethercutt had reportedly spent it on his boat tied up with three other boats at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers.
Detectives later found at least 52 empty beer cars and two empty whiskey bottles on Nethercutt's boat, in addition to 20 unopened cans of beer.
His blood-alcohol level, taken at the hospital that night, was as high as 0.324 percent, according to prosecutors and court documents.
Jim Egan, Nethercutt's attorney, told the court that his client has "attended at least one (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting every day since this happened."
Nethercutt first joined the program "from fear, and then he did so because it changed his life," Egan said. "He is not the man I knew when I first met him in the hospital after this incident. He is a changed man."
Nethercutt said he tries on a daily basis to continue to be a better person and keeps the Gilberts in his thoughts and prayers.
"I am very, very sorry," he said to Pat.
A part of the plea deal included a request from the Gilberts that Nethercutt see pictures taken by law enforcement at the crash site to help understand the damage left in his wake.
Nethercutt agreed to it. So immediately after the hour-long hearing, he was taken to the nearby sheriff's office to look at the photos before being booked into the Benton County jail.
He was escorted by Barnes, a Richland police captain who has served as a liaison for his family with prosecutors and the media.
After Nethercutt is released from prison, he will complete 1,500 hours of community service. He also has agreed to pay the "substantial sum of $50,000" to the family outside of the insurance settlement, Egan said.
"Mr. Nethercutt indicates to me that he wants to try and soften that hurt that he caused," Egan said of his client's decision to go along with all the conditions.
A restitution request for $763 to cover the sheriff's office tow costs is being reviewed by the defense.
