Defense attorneys Todd Pascoe, left, who is representing Danny Wing, and John Crowley, who is representing Brenda Wing, converse away from their clients prior to the start of separate arraignment hearings in Lewis County Superior Court in December 2014 at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis. The Wings are scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
Jasper Henderling-Warner, 3
New interviews, a failed polygraph test and a phone conversation from jail show a couple awaiting sentencing for manslaughter in the death of 3-year-old Jasper Henderling-Warner lied about vital facts in the case, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told The Chronicle Monday that his office believes Danny and Brenda Wing violated the terms of their guilty plea agreements, in which they were offered sentences of 12 to 16 years in prison, by lying or omitting facts in statements. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for Friday in Judge Nelson Hunt’s court.
“We’re going to be asking for significantly higher (sentences),” Meyer said.
According to court documents, Danny Wing failed a polygraph test administered by the Washington State Patrol on Sept. 9 and gave information during a pre-test interview that conflicted with earlier statements.
Brenda Wing’s polygraph was inconclusive, but in a recorded phone call after the test, she admitted lying during the polygraph, to investigators, and to Danny Wing.
“What she lied about, that threw us for a loop,” Meyer said. “That part of the story was consistent between them.”
The prosecutor’s office filed motions Friday and Monday, against Brenda and Danny Wing respectively, in Lewis County Superior Court asking a judge to find the Wings in violation of their plea agreements, which require each of them to “provide truthful and complete information,” about the abuse and death of Jasper. In exchange, prosecutors dropped aggravating factors from the charges, which denote the seriousness or additional circumstances of a crime and sometimes result in increased sentences or penalties.
The motion also asks the judge to allow prosecutors to add the aggravating facts back into the charges and proceed to sentencing on Friday as planned.
Attorneys for Danny and Brenda Wing did not return calls requesting comment as of press time.
The Truth
Information gleaned from the recent interviews with Danny and Brenda Wing sheds new light on the brutal and drawn-out death of Jasper Henderling-Warner.
In previous statements to investigators and prosecutors, Brenda Wing maintained that the abuse against Jasper started after she saw him put his hand over their baby’s mouth and nose. Brenda said she told Danny and he punished Jasper by beating him for the first time. The beatings didn’t stop for two months, until Jasper was dead.
Brenda Wing’s polygraph, on Sept. 15, showed inconclusive results, but in a post-test interview she admitted to investigators that Jasper never put his hand over the baby’s mouth and nose, and that she lied about it to Danny and in previous interviews.
In a later taped phone call from the jail, Brenda admitted to lying during her statement and the polygraph, and again confessed to the lie about Jasper and the baby, saying she understood that the lie caused the beatings and abuse.
“I told Danny something that Jasper did that he didn’t do and he beat him for it,” Brenda Wing said in the taped phone call.
When asked why she lied, Brenda said she didn’t know.
“This lie is what, in essence, started the beatings of Jasper that led to his prolonged torture and, ultimately to his death,” the motion reads.
While Brenda Wing’s polygraph was inconclusive despite her admitted lie, Danny’s wasn’t — he failed.
The polygraph operator, Sgt. T.R. DeHart of the Washington State Patrol, noted that Danny Wing was “deceptive” during the test.
According to the state’s motion, Danny Wing failed questions twice that asked, “Regarding the interview about Jasper’s injuries, did you tell me the truth today?”
The state is working to arrange a subsequent polygraph test with an examiner designated by Danny Wing’s attorney, according to court documents.
In addition to the polygraph results, prosecutors argue Danny Wing lied or omitted information in early statements that he later admitted in the pre-polygraph interview.
Danny Wing allegedly omitted information about “conditioning” Jasper to lie about who abused him. Brenda’s statements indicate Danny would ask Jasper who hit him, and when Jasper responded that it was Danny, Danny would hit him again and say that someone else did it.
While his first statements did not mention this, he did admit to the abuse during his pre-test interview.
Danny Wing also admitted in the new interview to spraying rubbing alcohol in Jasper’s eyes, but denied it was purposeful.
Both Danny and Brenda admitted to blowing marijuana smoke in Jasper’s face, and in their other children’s faces, and confirmed they fed all of the children in their care marijuana edibles. However, according to the prosecutor’s office motions, Danny had not admitted giving Jasper or the other children marijuana in statements previous to the polygraph.
According to the motion, investigators believe Danny Wing was only truthful and consistent about one portion of his interview, when he denied gagging Jasper by sticking his fingers down the boy’s throat.
Prosecutors conclude in the motion that Danny Wing provided false statements for his plea agreement and provided new and contradictory information in almost every issue he was questioned about before his polygraph test.
“The defendant was dishonest and continued to be dishonest,” the motion reads. “The defendant and his wife tortured Jasper without remorse.”
The Consequences
Danny Wing pleaded guilty on March 19 to first-degree manslaughter, domestic violence, and third-degree assault of a child, domestic violence.
Brenda Wing pleaded guilty on May 7 to first-degree manslaughter, domestic violence, third-degree assault of a child, domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with a witness.
“There was a lot of back and forth and we made the deal with Danny first,” Meyer said. “Our key was we needed to find out exactly what happened to Jasper.”
As part of the plea agreements, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office required both Wings to give statements containing “truthful and complete information, with no material misstatement or omissions of fact, relating directly or indirectly to any criminal activity related to the abuse or death of Jasper …”
Both were also required to take polygraph tests and to give additional statements about the toddler’s death, and the events leading up to it.
In exchange for that information, prosecutors agreed to remove numerous aggravating factors in the Wings’ charges, thereby reducing their sentences.
In light of the new information, prosecutors want to reinstate the aggravating factors, and seek exceptional, or significantly higher, sentences.
Meyer said prosecutors are working to determine new sentencing ranges.
If Judge Hunt agrees that the Wings violated the terms of their plea agreements, each faces six additional aggravating factors.
For Brenda and Danny Wing’s first two charges, first-degree manslaughter, domestic violence, and third-degree assault of a child, domestic violence, prosecutors would add three aggravating factors each: 1) that the crime was committed against a family or household member, 2) that the defendant used their position of trust to commit the offense, and 3) that the defendant knew or should have known that the victim was particularly vulnerable or incapable of resistance.
The first aggravating factors — that the crime was committed against a household member — includes an extra $100 fine once convicted, according to RCW 10.99.020.
The second and third aggravating factors — that the defendant abused a position of trust and that the defendant should have known the victim was vulnerable— could result in an increased sentence, according to RCW 9.94A.537.
The couple agreed to care for the boy after his mother, described in court documents as homeless, said she was unable to care for him.
