Death penalty an option

MOUNT VERNON — Isaac Zamora was formally charged this afternoon with 20 felony counts — including aggravated murder, the only charge in Washington that warrants the death penalty — in the Sept. 2 slayings of six people in the Alger area.

Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said today that he had not ruled out capital punishment.

“Anything is on the table until you have all the facts,” Weyrich said. “Obviously that leaves all our options open.”

State law gives Zamora’s public defender lawyer Keith Tyne a month to prepare an argument for prosecutors that Weyrich will consider when making his decision about whether or not to pursue the death penalty. Tyne was out of the office today and could not be reached for comment.

Zamora, 28, of Alger, was arrested after a high-speed chase down Interstate 5 on the same day that the six people were killed. He remains in Snohomish County Jail on $5 million bail. He was previously arraigned on a magistrate's warrant.

Investigators say that he shot and killed all six victims, including a Skagit County sheriff’s deputy who was responding to a complaint that Zamora was breaking into homes, according to an affidavit filed today by the prosecutor in Skagit Count Superior Court.

Investigators said that Zamora wounded three people by gunfire and stabbed a fourth. He also shot at a couple as they drove south on I-5, shattering the vehicle’s window, but they escaped without injury, the affidavit said.

Investigators say that Zamora broke into several homes in the Alger Silver Creek area and stole two guns and a knife that were used in the attacks and took one victim’s pickup to make his getaway.

Zamora faces six counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Deputy Anne Jackson, 40, of Alger; Chester Rose, 58, of Alger; Greg Gillum, 38, of Alger; David Radcliffe, 58, of Clear Lake; Julie Binschus, 48, of Alger; and Leroy Lange, 64, of Methow. Prosecutors also charged Zamora with six counts of attempted murder, including the shooting of a State Patrol trooper who pursued him.

Also filed were a count of first-degree robbery, in connection with the taking of Radcliffe’s pickup, four counts of burglary, two counts of theft of a firearm, and a count of unlawful possession of a firearm.

If prosecutors don’t pursue the death penalty, conviction of aggravated murder carries a life sentence.

• Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .