TNT top stories: Point Defiance attacker sentenced, light rail advances

From a 22-year prison sentence in a brutal Point Defiance Park attack to a dramatic mountain rescue and a major transit vote, Pierce County saw significant news Friday. Here’s a roundup of the stories shaping the region.

• Nicholas Fitzgerald Matthew was sentenced Friday to 22 years in prison for the February 2024 attempted murder of a woman walking alone on a trail at Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park. Victim Victoria Nizzoli, a local architect, survived the stabbing attack thanks to bystanders who intervened, including a couple walking their dog and an active-duty military member who rendered first aid until responders arrived.
• A UW physician named Rochelle Garcia slid 240 feet down Mount Deception in Olympic National Park over Memorial Day weekend, surviving with minor injuries after a dramatic helicopter rescue using “short-hauling” techniques. A second climber in Garcia’s party, Rizka Budiati-Szkutnik, suffered far worse injuries in a separate fall — including rib, nose and spinal fractures, plus a stroke requiring a craniotomy — and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
• The Sound Transit Board approved an updated ST3 plan Thursday that keeps the Tacoma Dome Link Extension on track for 2035 completion, addressing a $34 billion funding gap from the 2016 ballot measure. The board also approved an additional 1.372% sales tax on car rentals expected to generate roughly $300 million through 2052, while the T Line expansion to Tacoma Community College was delayed two years to 2043.
• Construction Kings, a Pierce County contractor headed by Zakary Nash, is facing 40-plus claims totaling more than $1.1 million from homeowners across multiple Washington counties, with a victims’ group estimating over 100 people affected and $2.88 million in combined losses. Nash filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on May 11, and L&I suspended his contractor registration on April 23, while the Washington Attorney General’s Office has received 36 complaints and taken over the case from Pierce County prosecutors.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by senior editor Adam Lynn. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.