Court Denies Retrial Request for Convicted Yakima Real Estate Agent Killer

The man accused of masterminding the death of a noted Yakima real estate agent will stay behind bars, and his request for a new trial was rejected this week.

According to the Yakima Herald, a three judge panel in Spokane's Court of Appeals denied the request of Daniel Blizzard to have a retrial. His attorney had filed a complaint about the 2014 proceedings, claiming former Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Hagarty  negatively affected Blizzard'ss trial.

Hagarty tried to have the judge removed from the trial because he believed she was biased against the prosecution.

The judicial panel ruled "the judiciary (judge) is not vulnerable to manipulation by politically charged criticism," and they noted that after Hargarty was admonished for his actions, the judge offered to recluse or remove herself, but Hagarty did not push for that option.

Blizzard was accused of plotting and hiring a man to kill Real Estate Agent Vern Holbrook after a deal fell through to buy his agency. Blizzard took out a $1.58 million dollar life insurance policy on the man, and was found to have hired Louis Gomez-Monges to kill him. Holbrook was found beaten and his throat slashed.

Blizzard was found guilty of first degree murder and got 34 1/2 years, Monges 27.