Bend teen gets life sentence for brutal murder of father
Hawkin Groenendaal, 19, of Bend cried in court Wednesday after asking to address his older sister, Jessica.
"I've made a lot of bad decisions in my life and this tops them all," he said of the January 2005 killing. "I knew when I entered that house that I was doing something wrong."
Deschutes County prosecutors said the teenager crushed William Groenendaal's skull by repeatedly striking him with an ax handle. He then bound his 59-year-old father with wire, dragged him into the shower and turned on the water before stealing his wallet and wedding ring.
Groenendaal went into the kitchen to eat ice cream before stealing the family car, buying a ring with his father's credit card and fleeing to Colorado, where he was caught the next day, according to court documents.
Groenendaal, who was convicted of aggravated murder and murder last week after a brief trial by judge, had been estranged from his family. But police reports show that he had spent days watching them from a nearby construction site before the murder.
During several phone conversations with his girlfriend in Colorado, he said he planned to kill his dad and steal from the family so he could buy her an engagement ring.
Since his arrest, Groenendaal has made two unsuccessful escape attempts, said Kandy Gies, the deputy district attorney.
Gies said William and Annette Groenendaal, who adopted Hawkin when he was 7 years old, tried helping the troubled youth. They sent him to counselors, enrolled him in private schools and sent him to a drug treatment program, she said.
"Ultimately, he went back and hurt the people who spent the most time trying to help him," she said.
Though he expressed regret at Wednesday's sentencing, Groenendaal wrote an earlier letter from jail that revealed no remorse.
"I don't feel anything in regards to my dad or what I did to my family," Groenendaal wrote to a counselor. "I know it sounds cruel, but it's the truth. I just don't feel anything. I really did not care about them."
Before sentencing Groenendaal, Judge Michael Adler called the murder "one of the most heinous and outrageous crimes ever committed in this county."
In a written statement Gies read Wednesday, Groenendaal's sister said she did not hate her brother for what he did because it would require too much time and effort.
"In the end, God will deliver Hawkin's final sentence," she wrote. Groenendaal's mother did not attend the hearing.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)