June 19 – A 39-year-old man sentenced to life in prison last month for a Deer Park murder pleaded guilty last week to apparently unprovoked assaults leading to the killing, and remains in custody on another attack involving a hammer at a target in north Spokane.
A jury convicted Gary Ault in March of killing 83-year-old Richard Purdy on Dec. 26, 2022, at Purdy’s Deer Park home. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Anderson sentenced Ault to life in prison without parole on May 8.
Ault’s attorney, Michelle Hess, has appealed the verdict.
Ault pleaded guilty Friday as part of a deal to two counts of second-degree assault, before Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke III handed down a six-year prison sentence that will run concurrently with his murder sentence.
Jessica Schreiber was a victim of one of the second-degree attacks, although she asked the world’s victims to avoid a “victim mentality.”
Schreiber told Clarke on Friday that she appreciated Ault’s plea and hoped he would work on healing and making better decisions.
Schreiber, an employee at Rosauers in the north Spokane “Y” neighborhood, was standing outside the building on Dec. 17, 2022, when Ault approached her, smiled, sprayed her in the face and kicked her in the hip, according to court records documents.
The other second-degree assault charge stemmed from about an hour and a half earlier.
Video surveillance showed two women sitting outside Wheatland Bank in downtown Spokane when Ault sprayed the women with apparent bear spray and kicked them in the head before walking away, documents say.
Surveillance showed Ault getting into the Spokane Transit Authority center and getting off near the “Y,” court records show. Police say Ault then attacked Schreiber in nearby Rosauers.
Ault, dressed in red Spokane County Jail attire, apologized to Schreiber on Friday and thanked her for comments.
“I will focus all my energy on making better decisions,” Ault said, noting he will take advantage of the opportunities available to him while in prison.
Ault will stand trial in August on a first-degree assault charge related to an alleged assault on a man three days after the other attacks at the North Newport Highway Target.
A man told police he was in the store’s bathroom around 10:50 p.m. on Dec. 20, 2022, when Ault punched him several times and hit him twice in the head with a hammer, documents say.
