I know I can be a better person and father to my kids.”

Zachary James Barbee, defendant in kidnapping case

Zachary James Barbee is hoping to apologize in person some day, man-to-man, if he ever gets the chance.

Through an emotion-choked admission in Jefferson County Superior Court, Barbee owned his guilt in the kidnapping and beating of a Port Townsend man last November that left Port Townsend shocked when details of the case later came to light.

Barbee, 44, was the oldest of four assailants who were arrested earlier this year for the kidnapping, assaulting, drugging, robbing, and torturing of an acquaintance they believed had stolen items from the home of one of Barbee’s sons in November 2020. He agreed to a deal with prosecutors in September and was sentenced earlier this month. The last of the four attackers to enter a pleading of guilty, Barbee was sentenced to 84 months in prison for second-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault.

During his sentencing, Deputy Prosecutor Anna Phillips noted that Barbee was the one who had shot the victim in the face with an airsoft gun.

At 43 years old when the crime was committed, Barbee was 20 years older than the other assailants.

Phillips said the plea deal amounted to “a fair settlement of the case and a kind of justice in this case.”

“Mr. Barbee, as the court knows, was the person who actually inflicted the injury on [the victim],” she said. “Mr. Barbee was the oldest person and I’ll just say, the adult in the room, really,” she added.

BRUTAL ASSAULT

The injury caused the kidnapping victim to lose sight in one eye.

Barbee was arrested for the brutal assault along with his son, Robert John Cuevas, and two other assailants, Guiseppe Donato Glanz, and Isaiah William Peoples-Morse.

The attack happened in a home in the mobile park at 545 Hendricks St. in Port Townsend after the victim returned to the residence following a visit there earlier in the day.

The man later told police he had been kidnapped, robbed, beat up, drugged, and left on Anderson Lake Road by his assailants.

The investigation was stalled, however, after the victim “told the deputies that he wasn’t going to say anything because he would be killed,” according to a police report from the Port Townsend Police Department. The man broke his silence after he was later booked into Jefferson County Jail on a shoplifting charge.

He told authorities he had been visiting the home in the trailer park the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 10, but when he returned about midday he was confronted and assaulted by Glanz, Barbee, Cuevas, and Peoples-Morse.

The man said he was accused of stealing from the group, and that they beat him for hours.

At one point, he said, he made it to the front door and tried to escape, but was stopped and beaten again. His assailants took turns punching him in the face and ribs, he said, and added he was also hit with clubs. His screams for help went apparently unheard by others living in the mobile home park.

The man also thought he’d be killed, because at one point, three of the men — Glanz, Barbee, and Peoples-Morse — talked about whether or not to kill him.

The victim also told police he was shot 15 to 20 times with an airsoft gun, and police found marks on his stomach and back consistent with the size of BB pellets. The victim also alleged that Barbee pointed the gun close to his face and shot him in the right eye with the BB gun as Glanz and Peoples-Morse held him down.

His attackers also cut off his hair, which was waist length, and shoved the hair into his mouth. The victim also said he was burned with cigarettes, stripped of his clothes and forced to put on different clothes, and put in the bed of a truck where he was driven around for a while before he was eventually dumped off about 8 miles away from the home where he was assaulted.

A passerby found him next to Anderson Lake Road and called 911.

LEFT TO DIE

During Barbee’s sentencing hearing before Judge Keith Harper, the deputy prosecutor detailed Barbee’s involvement in the brutal beating.

The assault was prompted by a relatively minor theft, Phillips said.

She recalled how the assailants had returned from breakfast and started beating the victim over his theft of items from the home; Barbee was the one who locked the doors as the assault continued and shot him with the airsoft gun.

“And if that wasn’t enough, he stood by, basically in a supporting role while the beating continued,” Phillips said.

The victim’s hair was cut off to collect some sort of bounty, she added, and after he was drugged, he was made to change clothes and Barbee ordered the victim “be taken for a ride out of town.”

The man was dumped by the side of the road, Phillips said, “basically left to fend for himself or die.”

Phillips said Barbee told the truth after he was arrested.

“But I don’t think he in any way at the time, appreciated the depravity with which he acted,” she said.

She recalled that during his interview with police, “as if this was somewhat helpful, when one of the younger men went to go get some brass knuckles, he said, ‘Well, that’s it. No brass knuckles.’ Because you could cave somebody’s head in.”

Phillips recalled the shock caused in the community following newspaper accounts of the crime.

“We don’t think that this kind of thing happens in Port Townsend and down on Anderson Lake Road,” she said. “It doesn’t really sound real.”

“But it was really real,” Phillips said. “And it’s really shocking.”

Barbee does not have an extensive criminal history, though the court did note he had three prior convictions for fourth-degree assault in 2004 and 2006.

Phillips said without the deal, Barbee would have been facing 111 to 147 months in prison.

“The state appreciates Mr. Barbee’s willingness to take responsibility for his actions,” she said.

Samuel Feinson, Barbee’s attorney, said his client’s use of drugs was “probably a driving force in his utter lack of judgment.”

Shooting the victim with an airsoft gun was a felon assault, Feinson continued, “and standing by and doing what he did probably contributed to what the co-defendants did.”

“Mr. Barbee knows that his actions touched off that string of events,” he said.

“Mr. Barbee was not the mastermind of this; Mr. Barbee did not direct this to occur,” Feinson added. “That does not excuse any of his actions he took that day.”

A LIFE LOST EARLY

Before his sentencing, an emotional Barbee expressed great remorse for the events of that day in November. He tried to read a letter he had written, and struggled greatly, continuing to wipe his eyes.

“Oh, God,” he said quietly.

Regaining his composure, Barbee recalled his life that had led up to that day.

“A day that I wish I could go back and do so differently; a day that changed the lives of so many people over a few horrible decisions influenced by drugs, alcohol and years of regret, and letting down my family and especially, my son,” Barbee said.

“I was raised in a very harsh world of drugs, thugs, killers, and outlaw bikers. My mother was killed when I was 4 by a drunk driver,” he continued. “I was raised by my father, who was a Vietnam veteran, a drug dealer, a hired thug, and killer.

“At 4 years old, I smoked weed for the first time. By at least 5, I can remember my cousins would get me high. And by 13 my father offered me my first line of meth. At 15, he handed me a gun or a rifle to defend him,” he said.

Barbee told the judge he was a father with five children. He recalled how his youngest son, Robert John Cuevas, was sentenced on his 20th birthday for the same crimes. (Cuevas received 48 months in prison).

The other two men arrested in the case — Guiseppe Donato Glanz and Isaiah Peoples-Morse — were sentenced earlier. Glanz received 17 months in prison, Peoples-Morse got a sentence of 60 months in custody.

Barbee said his drug use separated him from his family, and said it also cost him multiple jobs because of poor performance, poor attitude, and always being late.

“Growing up my kids never got the love, affection and attention they deserved because my addiction always got in the way and ultimately always came first.

“I missed out on a lot of my kids’ childhoods because I felt ashamed of who I was and what I was,” he said.

He recalled the day of the assault, and the phone call he got that said someone was filling his backpack with things taken from the home where two of his son’s lived.

Barbee recalled a vow he said he’d made years before when learning that a family member had been abused: “That I would never let anyone take hurt or take advantage of my kids again.”

“Nov. 10, 2020 is a day I wished never happened,” Barbee said.

“What started as a good intention of standing up for my sons went horribly wrong.”

He told the judge that because of his actions, he would miss out on seeing his grandchildren grow up, or walking his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

Barbee wished he could apologize to the man he shot.

“I hope one day I will have the opportunity to apologize in person to him, and maybe one day he might be able to forgive me, though I don’t expect him to,” Barbee said.

With his arrest came a blessing, he added, the chance to finally be free from drugs and alcohol.

He was seven months clean, “which feels awesome.”

“I don’t think I have had that much clean time without my addiction controlling my life since I was 4 or 5 years old,” Barbee said.

He added that he and his son had since accepted Jesus Christ into their lives.

“And he and I are both determined to turn this horrible event into a positive turning point in our lives,” Barbee said. “My plan from this point on is to focus on my recovery, my relationship with God, as well as my children.”

Barbee noted he was in drug treatment at the jail. He had been in treatment before, he added, but was never serious.

“I never really wanted to quit using. For the first time, I actually want a different life,” Barbee said.

“My life has been a train wreck for a long time. I cannot keep living the life I have been living. I literally lost everything, including my freedom.

“I know I can be a better person and father to my kids,” he said finally.

A CHANCE FOR CHANGE

The judge recalled when the accused were first brought into court and the nature of the accusations, and Harper repeated what he said at the time, that the alleged crimes were “just completely extraordinary and remarkable.”

Harper noted Barbee’s personal struggles and said everyone makes choices in life.

“There is nothing that I or anybody else can do about that, but it is unfortunate. I feel bad that you had to grow up that way and live that way,” Harper said.

Still, he questioned the notion that the victim lived because Barbee was there to rein in the attackers.

“Well, OK, I don’t buy that. This is about as worse as it could be,” Harper said.

“It sounds like he was just left to die out on Anderson Lake Road,” the judge added. “He’s lucky somebody didn’t run over him with a vehicle.”

Harper accepted the plea deal of 84 months.

“I appreciate the comments you made about wanting to change course and be clean and sober and make big changes in your life,” he added. “I have no reason to believe that you don’t believe that.”

“Everybody in this room has faced forks in the road and made decisions ... and had to make choices,” the judge added.

“We can’t go back and change any of that. You can’t change one iota of it.

“All you can do is start today, and try to be the best person you can be from here forward and learn what you can from prior mistakes and hardships,” Harper said. “I really do hope you are able to do that. Good luck with everything.”