‘Make sure my family is safe.’ Son sentenced for killing parents near Bonney Lake in ’21
A 31-year-old man who murdered his parents at their home near Bonney Lake in 2021 was sentenced to nearly 60 years in prison this week after accepting a plea deal late last year.
Three siblings of Mark Rorvik and Debra Rorvik sent letters to Pierce County Superior Court Judge Joseph Evans requesting he hand down the agreed-upon, high-end sentence for their nephew, Zachary Rorvik, in order to protect their family. Court records show the younger Rorvik was diagnosed with a mental illness around 2017 but deemed competent to stand trial with proper medication.
“This was an incredibly sad case, with a loving couple stolen away from their daughters and grandkids,” Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Adam Faber wrote in a statement. “The sentence imposed here is important for the family’s safety and public safety.”
As a part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped the aggravating factors from Zachary Rorvik’s first-degree murder charges, which would have mandated a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Court records show he was previously convicted of a King County arson in 2018.
On Monday morning, Evans ordered Rorvik to serve a 715-month prison term, according to court documents. His sentencing paperwork did not include a calculation for time already spent in jail.
“This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do but please make sure my family is safe,” one of the siblings wrote to Evans.
Another sibling recalled how her sister Debra Rorvik, 61, was her best friend for decades, and Mark Rorvik, 59, became the brother she never had. She wrote that the parents housed their son and gave him jobs through their cleaning business.
“If only my nephew Zachary was able to receive the help he truly needed all our lives might not have changed forevermore,” a third sibling wrote.
According to charging documents from the May 30, 2021 incident, Zachary Rorvik told police he was angry with his parents for kicking him out two years earlier and went to their house on 171st Avenue Court East with a desire to kill them.
After his parents confronted him inside the house, Zachary Rorvik told police he stabbed his mother and used several objects to attack his father, charging documents show. Debra Rorvik died at the scene. Mark Rorvik died in the hospital after a neighbor reported him being assaulted by his son.
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
