Left: Andrew Baim (KOMO/YouTube). Right: Nick Valison (Weeks” Funeral Homes).
A Washington state man will spend over two decades behind bars for the murder of a father of two who was investigating illegal dumping in his neighborhood by a U-Haul.
Andrew Baim, 39, was sentenced to 24 years and seven months in prison for the murder of 53-year-old Nick Valison in Ravensdale, a Seattle suburb, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said. A jury convicted Baim of second-degree murder, arson and two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle in September.
Baim ran over Valison with a pickup truck on Sept. 21, 2023, in the area of 329th Place Southeast and 327th Way Southeast. Valison’s wife of nearly three decades, Tanie Valison, had harsh words for Baim at Thursday’s sentencing hearing.
“For the rest of his miserable life, he will be labeled a murderer because that’s what he is,” she said, according to a courtroom report from ABC affiliate KOMO. “I hope it haunts him for the rest of his days. My daughters and I were given a life sentence of pain, trauma and loss without Nick. We did nothing wrong and neither did he but our lives are forever altered because of a career criminal.”
According to a criminal complaint obtained by local NBC affiliate KING, Valison and his neighbors were concerned about illegal dumping in the area. Valison walked his dog over to check an abandoned U-Haul, which was later determined to be stolen. Baim mowed down Valison with a Dodge Ram pickup truck after a confrontation.
Neighbors said they saw the pickup driving recklessly in the area around the time of the murder. Deputies were familiar with Baim because of his litany of prior arrests. A few hours after the slaying, deputies responded to a vehicle fire, which was later confirmed to be the truck used in the slaying. Cops arrested Baim two days later.
Photos on Valison’s phone captured Baim’s truck.
Detective Sarah Gerlitz spoke at the sentencing hearing, saying Baim was a drug addict, but that was no excuse for murder.
“We interviewed many people in the drug scene, and none of them described him as a good person,” Gerlitz said, per KOMO. “This is not a person who feels remorse, he only feels sorry for himself as he sits in this courtroom.”
Baim claimed the killing was an accident and said he was “not an evil person.”
“It was a bad decision that was fueled by heavy drug use and addiction,” he told the judge. “I’ve been sober for two years and not a day goes by that I wish I couldn’t take back everything that’s happened.”
But Judge William L. Dixon said while it seemed the defendant was remorseful, the “situation was completely avoidable.”
“You are talking about a property crime … there’s a level of selfishness that’s involved in the decisions you made,” he reportedly told Baim before sentencing him.
Prosecutors described Valison as an avid outdoorsman who loved mountain biking. He worked at Hewlett-Packard for 25 years, his obituary said. He was protecting his neighborhood when he died.
“One friend described this deed as his ‘last great act,'” the obituary said.
