Dec. 25 – A man who fatally shot an elderly couple in their farmhouse bedroom in January 1997 was sentenced last week to 46 years in prison.
Cheyenne T. Brown, who was 20 years old at the time, was sentenced to two life sentences without parole after he and 19-year-old KC Therriault murdered Trudy and Allen Mattausch in their Waverly home in January of that year. Therriault was sentenced to 45 years in prison, court records show.
According to previous Spokesman-Review reporting, the couple, both in their 60s, were known for their generosity throughout Spokane County. They provided shelter to people without homes, baked cakes for neighbors and delivered bread to people in need.
“If there’s any role model you could want in our society, that would be it,” the couple’s son, Richard Mattausch, said after the killings. “They didn’t have a cent, but there was always room for an extra plate at the table.”
Allen Mattausch was an active member of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter and often delivered food to low-income residents. Trudy, his wife, worked as a cook at Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Fairfield. According to previous reports, they were married for 42 years.
The Mattauschs had allowed Brown and Therriault to live on their rural farm in southern Spokane County in exchange for odd jobs, according to previous reports. In 1996, Brown stole the Mattauschs’ truck, and the couple reported him to police. He served 60 days in jail for the crime and had to pay more than $600 in restitution. While the couple agreed to let him pay off the debts on their ranch, he was still angry with them.
Therriault also felt that the Mattauschs made “joking” comments that upset him. Both agreed that they would steal shotguns from the house, sneak into the couple’s bedroom and shoot them while they slept.
Brown faced the death penalty for the murders until he changed his plea to guilty without any indication as to why. According to previous reporting, prosecutors subsequently recommended a life sentence.
In 2012, Brown challenged his conviction in the Washington Court of Appeals based on claims that he was unfairly prosecuted and that he was repeatedly denied constitutional rights during the legal proceedings. Nine years later, Brown was granted a hearing and his criminal trial was scheduled for this year.
Court records show that Spokane County Superior Court Judge Julie McKay sentenced Brown to two 46-year prison sentences, to run concurrently, instead of two life sentences, because evidence aggravates Brown’s culpability in the crime, but also softened.
His family environment, prior criminal history, influence and maturity at the time of the crimes were all circumstances that attorneys took into account during the criminal case.
Brown also showed some “commitment to change,” court records say. Brown is expected to be released from prison in 2043.
