Shootout suicide try draws 5 years

Bill Gang

Friday, Feb. 25, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

The man who fired at three Metro Police officers and two civilians in his attempt to die in a "suicide by cop" will serve a three-to-five-year prison term.

The sentence handed down Thursday by District Judge Sally Loehrer was far less than the 12 to 32 years that she could have imposed to punish 26-year-old Devin Monfils, who already had been given a break by the jury that convicted him.

Monfils originally was charged with five counts of attempted murder, but the jury on Jan. 7 convicted him of only two lesser counts of assault with a deadly weapon and four counts of firing a weapon into a vehicle.

The jury determined Monfils didn't have the legally required intent to kill when he shot at the officers and civilians.

When the defendant, who stands 4 feet 7 inches, took the witness stand in his own defense at his trial, he tearfully told a jury how he had been ridiculed with names such as "Smurf, midget and Ewok" at his Seattle job with an airline company.

"People pointed and whispered and were cruel to Devin," Deputy Public Defender Lori Teicher told the jury during closing arguments.

He chose to employ what has become known as "suicide by cop" on the morning of Aug. 20 as he walked along Industrial Road near Tropicana Avenue. He had a blood-alcohol level of 0.28 percent.

Monfils drew police to the scene by firing his snub-nose .38-caliber pistol at two passing vehicles -- one on Interstate 15.

He fired at Metro Police patrol cars when they arrived, and the police fired back, hitting Monfils in his arm. He dropped his pistol and was apprehended before he could retrieve it.