SPOKANE, Wash. – A three judge panel with the Washington State Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the appeal of convicted killer and former Pasco Police Officer Richard Aguirre on Monday, December 1st.
Aguirre is appealing his 25-year prison sentence for the 1986 murder of Ruby Doss. That conviction came in March of 2024 during a bench trial in Spokane County. Aguirre’s family released a statement following the court’s ruling. They emphasized the absence of Aguirre’s DNA on Doss’s personal items, highlighting “unknown male DNA” found at the scene.
“The State forensic scientists did not find our brother’s DNA on her nor on her 50+ personal items found at the scene but they did find ‘unknown male DNA’ around the neck of her sweater and underneath her bloodied partially ripped fingernail,” the family said. “To date, the Spokane justice system has not solved this horrific crime. Instead, today, they have imprisoned an innocent man.”
The appeal questions the trial court’s decisions on several grounds, including the admission of evidence and expert testimony related to DNA extracts from a lost or destroyed condom. It also challenges the sufficiency of evidence for premeditation.
Key findings from the original trial included evidence that Ruby Doss was strangled and beaten for over three minutes. The court found Aguirre guilty based on DNA evidence, his admission of violence against a woman during the relevant time, and the sequence of events leading to Doss’s death.
