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Two go back to prison for vicious 2003 attack in Williams After the victim died, his attackers faced additional charges Comment By Tucker Reed and Shaun Hall Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Tucker Reed and Shaun Hall Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 26, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 26, 2016 at 10:32 AM By Tucker Reed and Shaun Hall Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 26, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 26, 2016 at 10:32 AM » Social News Two men were sent back to prison Thursday for the death of a mentally disabled Williams man they beat so badly in 2003 that he remained in a vegetative state for 12 years until succumbing last year. Zachariah Morgan Kain, 32, of Grants Pass and Damien Paul Karbowski, 31, of White City were sentenced by Josephine County Circuit Judge Pat Wolke to nearly eight years in prison for their guilty pleas to second-degree manslaughter in the death of Paul Lester Barnard. They had previously served 70 months in the case for assault, before Barnard died, meaning they will serve an additional 25 months, or just over two years. The defendants, then 20 and 19 respectively, encountered Barnard near the Williams Grange the night of Oct. 28, 2003, and beat and stomped him so viciously that he was left in a persistent vegetative state. They were both drunk and high on peyote. Barnard spent the rest of his life in a nursing home and passed away from complications stemming from pneumonia in January 2015. He was 50 years old. During the proceeding, deputy prosecutor Lisa Turner and the defendants' attorneys acknowledged that members of the families and friends of the defendants had expressed a sense that the manslaughter charge was unfair to the two men. Public defender Pete Smith said of his client Kain, "I think for his family, they naturally see (Kain) as a changed man who has paid his debt to society." However, Turner said she would have charged the defendants with first-degree manslaughter, which carries a mandatory sentence of 10 years, had the victim died earlier. The original plea deal in 2004 for assault apparently left open the door to new charges if the victim died. "It's been portrayed that this is unfair to the defendants," Turner told the court. "This is a case that was not fair. It was not fair to Mr. Barnard. … Mr. Kain has established a life, but there is accountability here, there is a victim, he died. … That man was never able to walk or feed himself again. He laid in a hospital bed for 12 years before he died of pneumonia." Turner enumerated a host of issues suffered by Barnard for more than a decade at Royal Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, including the perpetual need for painkillers, feeding tubes and the treatment of bedsores. Turner also told the court that she had been contacted by members of the community who were glad she had brought the additional charges against Kain and Karbowski. She referred to a letter from Barnard's brother, but did not read it aloud. "I would have sought (10 years) in 2004 if I could have," she said, referring to the mandatory sentence for first-degree manslaughter. Smith clarified that his client "has never said this is unfair or unjust or something he doesn't deserve." Judge Wolke did not attempt to hide his disgust. "You know, Mr. Kain, part of my job is to maintain a judicial temperament. But when I read Mr. Barnard's case file, it made me extremely angry," Wolke said. "He is an easy target for people like you. He had a hard first 39 years of his life, and for the last 12 years of his life he was a vegetable because of you. It kind of takes my breath away, the inhumanity." Wolke asked Karbowski if there was anything he wished to say during his sentencing. "Your Honor," he said through tears, "I agree with the state. A horrific mistake was made, and I thank the state for giving me a deal." Outside the courtroom afterward, Kain's fiancee was in tears. "He is not the person he was when it happened," April Tevlin said. "He's a good man." Tevlin said Kain has been gainfully employed — he was arrested after arriving at work at Rogue Valley Door — and that the couple was working toward buying a home. She also complained Kain's 12-year-old son will now be living with a grandparent while his father is in prison. "Zach knows what happened was completely wrong," Tevlin reiterated. "He wishes he could take it back." Smith, Kain's attorney, said his client could have received an extra four or five years prison time if the case had gone to trial and if Kain had been convicted on a more serious charge. Smith pointed out that one of the defendants had blood spattered up to his knees from stomping on Barnard's face. "I don't imagine a jury being too sympathetic," he said. In the end, Kain didn't complain about the deal he was getting, according to Smith. "Kain has stood up for what he did," the attorney said. "He realized he owed an additional debt. He never complained to me about coming back and serving more time. He's been mature and respectful to the process." Karbowski's wife, Erin, also spoke out in the lobby. "He worked hard to become a proud member of society," she said. "He did all his classes. He changed his life. The circumstances (of the crime) were inexcusable, but he's not the same 19-year-old boy he was. "He's a husband and a father," she continued. "I believe a lesser sentence would be more fair. I'm losing my husband and my best friend, for something that happened 12 years ago." The loss will be particularly difficult because one of their three children, a 3-month-old, needs brain surgery to correct a skull bone fusion problem, she said. Also, she and the children must move out of military housing in White City because Karbowski — a former Oregon National Guard soldier who was on leave at the time of the attack — will no longer be living with them. Karbowski's mother, Nancy Sutton, maintained it was wrong that her son is going back to prison. "Not a day has gone by that he hasn't prayed for Paul Barnard," Sutton said. "I know what has happened is horrifically wrong, but he did his time." Reach reporter Tucker Reed at 541-474-3806 or [email protected]; reach reporter Shaun Hall at 541-474-3722 or [email protected] By Tucker Reed and Shaun Hall Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Tucker Reed and Shaun Hall Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 26, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 26, 2016 at 10:32 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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