Man sentenced to 84 years in Maple Valley murders appeals conviction

A 43-year-old Snohomish man who was sentenced, effectively, to life in prison for a 2023 double murder in Maple Valley immediately appealed his conviction.

Brandon Gerner was handed an 84-year prison sentence last week for killing Robert Riley, 57, and Ashley Williams, 34, whose bloodied bodies were found on the side of the road in 2023. The 84-year sentence is on the high end of the standard range for the two murder convictions.

Gerner was convicted by a jury of first-degree and second-degree murder for the deaths of Williams and Riley, respectively. After serving 22 years in prison for assault and burglary, he was released from custody in 2023 and killed Williams and Riley about 8 months later on a Maple Valley property.

In court documents, King County prosecutors wrote Gerner and two accomplices, Kody Olsen and Joshua Jones, showed up at the commercial property on Nov. 15, 2023 and had an exchange" with Riley at the gate by his trailer. Gerner alleged Riley pulled a gun, but no evidence supports that claim, according to charging documents.

Gerner ordered Olsen to shoot and kill Riley, documents state. Gerner stabbed Williams more than 19 times and, after the stabbings failed to kill her, Olsen shot her three times, court documents state.

"The level of violence her body sustained is, frankly, unfathomable, a deputy prosecuting attorney wrote in Gerner's sentencing memo.

Olsen later died from gunfire in a confrontation with Pierce County deputies. Jones pleaded guilty to criminal assistance and was sentenced to six years in prison.

In a victim impact statement, the adoptive mother of Williams' two youngest children wrote that Williams left behind five children. Riley had six grandchildren.

Gerner filed a notice that he would appeal his conviction the same day his sentence was handed down. He maintained his innocence during the sentencing hearing.

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