About Randy
Randy was 25 years old when he was convicted of Aggravated Murder in Cowlitz County. He was freed after the true perpetrator came forward to admit he committed the crime, and Randy was not involved in the murder.
The Investigation
On October 5,1995, police found John Robinette beaten nearly to death in his apartment. There was evidence of forced entry, robbery, and a violent struggle. Robinette died several days after the beating from blunt force injuries to his head inflicted by a nail-studded 2×4 board recovered at the scene. Police also recovered a metal pipe, a wooden dowel, and small pieces of splintered wood. In the alley adjacent to the apartment, police found a large black case containing drugs and drug paraphernalia. They later learned the perpetrators stole the case during the attack and ditched it in the alley.
Robinette, a middle-aged man, was notorious in the small Kelso community for dealing drugs and sexually assaulting boys. He would entice young boys with the promise of drugs in exchange for sex. Twenty-one-year old James Pyles and Geoffrey Foutch had been two of his victims. Pyles and Foutch were long time friends, and both were close with 17-year-old James Fannon. Two months before he was murdered, Robinette drugged Fannon and held him captive in his house, where he sexually abused him for three weeks.
Pyles, Foutch, and Fannon began planning a revenge attack on Robinette long before meeting Randy . They agreed to a plan to assault Robinette by beating him with baseball bats and lead pipes.
On the afternoon of October 4, 1995, Pyles and Foutch finalized the plan to attack Robinette and steal money and drugs from him. They agreed Pyles would arrange to go to Robinette’s house that evening under the premise he would have sex with Robinette in exchange for methamphetamine. Once inside Robinette’s home, Pyles would hit Robinette over the head and open the door for Foutch. Together, they would steal Robinette’s money and drugs and split the proceeds.
On October 5, 1995, police received a call from a woman who wanted to remain anonymous stating she might have information about Robinette’s assault. She told police she believed Pyles and Randy were involved in the assault based on statements relayed by a friend. Police arrested Randy and Pyles the same day.
When police arrested Pyles, he denied knowing anything about Robinette’s assault. Police falsely informed Pyles that Randy (who had exercised his right to silence) had implicated him. After that, Pyles changed his story. He then claimed he was at Robinette’s apartment when Foutch and Randy kicked in the door and attacked Robinette while Pyles hid in the closet.
Foutch was arrested on October 7th. The day before his arrest, Foutch left a recorded message on a friend’s voicemail admitting he and Pyles “damn near” killed Robinette. Foutch made no mention of Randy; instead, he repeatedly stated that he and Pyles were involved and he wanted Fannon and all the other people Robinette hurt to come forward, because Foutch and Pyles were abused and they made Robinette pay for it.
After Foutch was arrested, he also changed his story. For the first time, he implicated Randy in the assault. However, he continued to admit the assault was the result of months—even years—of planning between him and Pyles as retribution for Robinette’s sexual assault of Foutch, Pyles and Fannon.
Pyles, Foutch and Randy were charged with First-Degree Murder and First-Degree Burglary. Pyles and Foutch pled guilty to First-Degree Murder after the State dismissed the Burglary Charge. They were sentenced to 26 and 27 years in prison.
When Randy moved forward with trial, the prosecutor amended his charges to Aggravated Murder in the First Degree, First-Degree Felony Murder and Possession of Methamphetamine. Randy continued to maintain his innocence and his case proceeded to trial in March of 1996.
At trial, a police officer from the jail testified that when he told Randy he might not be released, Randy responded, “Well, O.J. got off.” The officer then claimed he told Randy that the two had something in common because they “both did it,” to which he supposedly responded, “I might have done it, but he deserved it.” However, the prosecutor did not present any evidence that Randy, who moved to Kelso in the fall of 1995, knew Robinette. Randy had only met Pyles, Foutch and Fannon—who were all abused by Robinette—the day of the assault. There was no physical evidence linking Randy to the crime. And no eyewitness testimony of what happened inside Robinette’s apartment. Neither Foutch nor Pyles testified at the trial.
Nonetheless, the jury found Randy guilty as charged on March 22, 1996, and he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on the same day.
Randy’s appeal was denied in 2000. His appellate lawyer was disbarred two years later, for acts of misconduct ranging from 1997 to 2001. Randy’s pro se petition to vacate his first-degree felony murder charge on double jeopardy grounds was granted in 2014 and the felony murder charge was dismissed.
Post-Conviction and Freedom
In 2017, the Washington Innocence Project filed a motion for post-conviction DNA testing of the crime scene evidence. During the testing process, it was revealed that the State lost the black case the perpetrators took from Robinette’s home and discarded behind his apartment. It was also revealed that the State did not properly store the 2×4, wooden dowel and metal pipe, which were used by the perpetrators in the attack. Therefore, those items could not be tested. The only item able to be tested by the crime lab did not yield any DNA results.
However, the non-DNA investigation of Randy’s case was ongoing. In 2021, WashIP filed a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence from Foutch affirming Randy was not involved in the murder. The motion also alleged a due process violation, arguing that the State destroyed DNA evidence that could have exonerated Randy.
The trial court held evidentiary hearings on Randy’s motion in April and May of 2022. Foutch testified that he was homeless in 1995 after growing up in group homes. Foutch and Pyles were close friends who met when they were seven years old and living together at a boys’ ranch. Foutch testified that Robinette had attempted to rape him when he was 14 or 15 years old. He also testified that Fannon, who was Foutch’s girlfriend’s teenage brother, told him that Robinette had raped him. Foutch was enraged. He and Pyles devised a plan to beat up Robinette and steal from him.
On the day of the planned beating, Foutch testified he rode over to Robinette’s apartment with Randy. Foutch testified that Randy helped force in Robinette’s door, but Foutch does not remember him going inside. Instead, Foutch testified that when Randy realized what he and Pyles had planned, Randy left.
Foutch testified Randy did not play a role in Robinette’s death. When asked why he told police in 1995 that Randy was involved, Foutch stated that he did not know or care about Randy and he was angry with Randy for not helping on the night of the murder. Foutch testified he wanted to come forward with the truth because it was “the right thing to do.”
The trial court determined that Foutch’s testimony was reliable and granted Randy’s motion for a new trial on July 8, 2022. The prosecutor requested Randy be held without bail while the State appealed. However, the court agreed to allow Randy to post bail.
Randy was freed on August 5, 2022, at age 52, after serving 26 years of his life without the possibility of parole sentence.
However, Randy’s legal battles were not over. When the court of appeals unanimously affirmed the trial court’s order for a new trial, the State moved to reinstate Randy’s first-degree felony murder conviction, which was dismissed in 2014. Over WashIP’s strong objection, the trial court reinstated the felony murder conviction. On February 24, 2025, the court sentenced him to 12 years, which was 14 years less than he had already served. Randy is seeking to vindicate himself of the reinstated charge.
Since obtaining his freedom, Randy has devoted time to his family, his church and his community. He volunteers at his church, helping with potlucks after Sunday service, volunteering at the food bank and doing farmwork and other odd jobs (such as roofing and car mechanics) for fellow parishioners. He provides support to his mother, who suffers from dementia and lives near-by in an assisted living facility.
Randy is also an active member of WashIP’s Freed Family and the larger innocence community. He attends court hearings to support clients, and legislative hearings in support of statutory reforms.
*Based on the average annual per-person incarceration costs in Washington State as of May 2019. Does not include the financial cost of trial, appeals, community supervision, retrial, or related civil proceedings.
**Based on the average salary by age https://smartasset.com/retirement/the-average-salary-by-age; not including retirement or social security contributions.
WashIP is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Federal Tax ID No. 83-3498962
