Accused police killer pleads not guilty | Crime

The man accused of killing a Seattle police officer and fireboming several police vehicles pleaded not guilty in court this morning.

Christopher Monfort has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder and attempted murder in the October 31 shooting in the Central District, that killed Officer Timothy Brenton and wounded his partner, Britt Sweeney.

He is also facing two other charges of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree arson stemming from the Oct. 22 firebombing and his alleged attempt to shoot at officers when he was arrested.

Seattle police detectives shot Monfort at his Tukwila apartment when he pointed a gun at them, and the shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down. He spent several weeks at Harborview Medical Center, and Monday's court hearing was his first appearance in public since his arrest.

Brenton's widow Lisa Brenton was in the courtroom seated just a few feet from Monfort's mother. Sweeney was also present.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg last month accusedMonfort of planning and executing a "one-man war against the Seattle Police Department."

Investigators said DNA evidence found at the scene of Brenton's murder and the earlier arson at a police maintenance yard were a match to Monfort. The DNA was found on identical American flag bandannas dropped at both scenes as "calling cards," he said.

In addition, a rifle found in Monfort's apartment is an identical ballistic match to the weapon used to kill Brenton and wound his partner, Britt Sweeney, according to investigators.

Prosecutors accused Monfort of placing bombs at the scene of the Oct. 22 arson that were designed to explode and kill police, firefighters and medics who arrived to battle a blaze that destroyed a large command vehicle. The bombs were placed under two parked patrol cars.

Inside Monfort's apartment, police said they found three rifles, including the one used to kill Brenton, and a pistol-grip shotgun, as well as several bombs consisting of propane bottles wrapped with duct tape, nails protruding. Some had very short fuses, indicating Monfort could light them and throw them at police, and another had a fuse sitting on the heating element of his kitchen stove, authorities said.