Yesterday Jonathan Daniel Harris, 30, was sentenced to 316 months in prison for the murder of Nichole White in June of 2015. The sentence is the high end of the sentencing range.
Harris pleaded guilty to second degree murder on July 28, 2016. He subsequently made a motion to withdraw his plea of guilty, which the court heard and denied on August 24, 2016. Harris also brought a motion for evaluation of his competency, and the court found him to be competent on October 28, 2016.
“Mr. Harris knew what he was doing the night he killed Nicole White. And he knew what he was doing when he pled guilty,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. “The sentence is just.”
On June 6, 2015, White picked Harris up from his home and they drove to Jeepers Country Bar and Grill in Spanaway. Several hours later, witnesses saw the two leave the bar together in White’s car. She never made it home and was reported missing on June 7.
Over the next two weeks, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and volunteers conducted an extensive search. On June 20, a K-9 from a volunteer search and rescue team found White’s body at the bottom of wooded ravine south of Lake Kapowsin. Her body was wrapped in a green tarp and was severely decomposed.
Detectives believe that after the two left the bar, they drove back to Harris’ house. He beat White to death and wrapped her in the tarp. Harris loaded White into her car, drove to the wooded area and rolled her down the ravine. Then, he drove her car off the side of the road near his house and walked home.
The next day, according to cell phone records and data stored on the ignition interlock device in his vehicle, Harris drove his car back to the site where he dumped White’s body.
During a search of Harris’ home, detectives located the sweatshirt he was wearing at the bar the night White disappeared. DNA from blood on the sweatshirt was a match to White.