Birch Bay resident Clayton Edward Dubois, 44, was sentenced in Whatcom County Superior Court to over 15 years in prison after attempting to “mercy kill” his former partner while high on methamphetamine in August 2024.
During a September 13 sentencing hearing, Judge Evan Jones handed down a 15.6-year sentence for the attempted first-degree murder charge with a domestic violence enhancement and an eight-month sentence for unlawful firearm possession in the second-degree. Dubois will serve 1.5 years of community custody following his release.
A Whatcom County jury found Dubois guilty of the charges in August. Jones sentenced Dubois with the minimum of the sentence range for first-degree murder, which is 15.6 to 20.8 years in prison for the charge and Dubois’ criminal history. Dubois was given the maximum of the three- to eight-month sentencing range for unlawful firearm possession.
On September 29, Dubois’ defense counsel requested the court give Dubois an “exceptionally low sentence of two years” because he had been diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer and a brain tumor after the arrest.
Public defender Carl A. Munson Jr. wrote in a September 29 sentencing memorandum that Dubois believed he had about two years to live, despite no medical personnel putting his life expectancy in writing. Munson Jr. argued that a lighter sentence would hopefully give Dubois time with his 12-year-old son, attend church and address drug and alcohol problems.
On August 20, 2024, Dubois was arrested after attempting to leave the woman at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham. Dubois told police that he had consumed methamphetamine, marijuana and tequila, before attempting to murder the woman, then 41, at his home on Lincoln Road. The woman later said they had an amicable evening together and had known each other for the majority of their lives.
Dubois told police he was going to “mercy kill” the woman, who he said put a spell on him. Dubois hit her twice with propane tanks in his garage. In response to being asked why he was trying to hit her, Dubois replied, to “kill her.”
Dubois then told police he had a “change of heart” and took her to the hospital.
The woman was transported to the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she was treated for multiple facial fractures, among other injuries. She filed a personal injury lawsuit against Dubois this spring requesting compensation for medical and counseling fees, loss of wages and attorney fees.
According to the defense’s leniency request, the woman told the prosecutor that Dubois asked her not to bring the methamphetamine to the house. “Please let it be clear that Mr. Dubois is in no way inferring or insinuating that Ms. Higgins is in any way responsible for this event,” the defense wrote immediately after.
Dubois’ attorney, Munson, believed that Dubois was overcharged and should have only received a felony assault as there was no evidence of premeditation and no reliable evidence of intent. He added that Dubois did not pose as a threat to the public, having only one felony conviction of an attempt to elude police in 2006 and a few misdemeanors, the most recent of which being disorderly conduct in 2018.
Defense stated taxpayers would bear Dubois’ medical costs as he has undergone chemotherapy and daily radiation treatments in Bellingham.
“If Mr. Dubois is sentenced between 15 and 20 years, that will most likely be a death sentence for him,” Munson wrote. “He will most assuredly die in prison. The state will continue to pay for his care, treatment and surgeries and everything else until the day he dies.”
