Convicted murderer Ramos denied new trial

YAKIMA, Wash. -- An appeals judge on Thursday rejected a request for a new trial from a man who pleaded guilty to killing an Outlook family when he was a teenager.

Joel Ramos, who was 14 at the time, was convicted in the stabbing and beating deaths of Michael and Lynn Skelton and their two young sons in March 1993. Along with 14-year-old Joel Gaitan, Ramos broke into the home at night and attacked the family.

Prosecutors have described the deaths as the worst homicide case in the history of Yakima County.

Ramos pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of felony murder in connection with the underlying robbery. He was sentenced to 80 years.

Gaitan was convicted at trial and sentenced to four life terms.

Ramos appealed in 2006, arguing against the juvenile court’s decision to transfer the case to adult court and contending he should have been charged for only one count of murder in connection with the related robbery. In a separate petition, he argued that his appeal had been unfairly delayed, hindering his ability to challenge the conviction.

The three judges of the Spokane-based Division Three of the state Court of Appeals rejected all of the arguments. The justices wrote that Ramos had wrongly interpreted the statutes upon which he based his appeals and that the delay had not led to any bias, partly because he was not given a new trial.

-- Mark Morey