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Inset: Jack Waldrop (Kennewick Police Department). Background: The area near the Kennewick Police Department in Washington, which handled his kidnapping and assault case (Google Maps).
This week, a man from Washington state revealed his intention to accept a plea deal in a case where he stands accused of kidnapping and threatening to kill his former girlfriend. Prosecutors allege that the man offered to give his ex a ride for an errand, but then ominously declared, “she was going to die today,” while she sat in his pickup truck.
The accused, Jack Waldrop III, 57, is a convicted felon with a grim history, having served two decades in prison for the murder of another ex-girlfriend. In this latest case, he faces charges of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault, and violating a court order after an alleged attack on a 63-year-old former partner in 2022.
According to court officials, Waldrop is slated to appear in court on Wednesday to alter his plea, following a not guilty plea in May 2022. It is anticipated that he will plead guilty to the kidnapping and court order violation charges, with the assault charge being dismissed as part of the arrangement.
The Tri-City Herald reports that under this plea agreement, Waldrop could face a prison sentence of up to eight years. Documents accessed by the newspaper detail that a protection order had been issued requiring him to stay away from his ex, an order he allegedly disregarded.
In March 2022, prosecutors claim Waldrop offered his ex a ride for an errand, leading to a confrontation after she overheard a disturbing phone conversation. The situation escalated when the woman exited Waldrop’s Ford F-150 and began heading towards a bus stop. Waldrop, moments later, approached her again, offering a ride home, according to court reports.
However, once she re-entered the vehicle, Waldrop allegedly drove her against her will away from the Tri-Cities area, making threats against her, as stated in a police press release.
The pair allegedly fought inside the vehicle, with the victim falling out of the F-150 at one point, according to prosecutors. Waldrop was stomping her, yanking her hair, and punching her in the back while telling her she was “going to die,” per the court docs. He also allegedly threatened to take his own life.
Waldrop allegedly started driving toward Snoqualmie Pass while he was backhanding her throughout the trip. They stopped at a gas station and he told the victim to go inside to get cleaned up; she “sought help from a citizen” while hiding in the bathroom and Waldrop was told to stay away from her by patrons inside, according to police.
Authorities were notified and Waldrop allegedly fled from the gas station in his truck. He was apprehended in California several weeks later. His ex was hospitalized with two broken ribs and a fractured sternum.
Waldrop had a trial date set for June 13 before accepting his plea deal this week.
A felon with ties to Oregon, Waldrop was convicted in 1998 of first-degree manslaughter after he pleaded guilty to beating and strangling Angela Walker at her apartment in Salem. He was sentenced to a little over 21 years in prison.
“They know what to do with vicious animals like you,” the victim’s father told Waldrop at his sentencing, according to the Statesman Journal.
The deputy district attorney who prosecuted Waldrop for that attack reportedly told the newspaper, “This is the most classic case of battered woman syndrome I’ve ever seen. He’s dangerous and I wish we could have given him more time. If you have a spouse or a boyfriend who’s abusive, get the hell out before it’s too late.”
Waldrop’s brother Michael Waldrop was sentenced in 1995 to 20 years behind bars for running over and killing his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Claypool, as she was trying to get her two grandchildren, ages 3 and 4, out of his pickup truck, according to the Associated Press.
It’s unclear whether Waldrop’s ex who survived his attack was aware that he had killed a woman in Oregon and went to prison for it. Waldrop was released in 2018.