Pierce County jury convicts man in woman's 1996 stomping death

A former death row inmate has been convicted of beating and strangling a woman 10 years ago.

A Pierce County jury deliberated for just over two hours Friday before finding Cecil Davis guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 45-year-old Jane Hungerford-Trapp on April 14, 1996.

"It's a relief to have it finally here," the woman's daughter, Jessie Trapp said afterward. "I just appreciate everything that everybody did."

Davis, who was previously convicted in a 1997 rape and murder, was long suspected in the 1996 killing. He was charged last year after better DNA technology.

Boots with the word "DieHard" embossed on the soles were found at Davis' mother's home in January 1997, and a forensic scientist determined that a bloody print next to Hungerford-Trapp's body was made by the left boot. Tests later revealed that the blood found in the soles of the boots was from Hungerford-Trapp.

Davis, who took the stand Thursday in his defense, denied killing Hungerford-Trapp.

"We're pleased the jury followed the evidence," deputy prosecutor John Neeb said. "It's been a long wait for Jane Hungerford-Trapp's family."

Davis' attorney, John Cross, said he thought his client got a fair trial.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 8. Neeb said he'll ask that Davis be classified as a persistently violent offender and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.

The Hungerford-Trapp conviction will be admissible in Davis' upcoming resentencing in the 1997 murder of Yoshiko Couch, Neeb said.

Davis was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to death for burglarizing, robbing, raping and killing Couch, 65, on Jan. 25, 1997.

Last year, the state Supreme Court overturned the death sentence because a juror twice saw Davis wearing ankle cuffs. Justices ruled the sight of Davis in cuffs might have unfairly influenced the juror to vote for the death penalty.