Eakin takes stand against Savoie

EPHRATA — Three years after witnessing Evan Savoie brutally murder a playmate, Jake Eakin recounted how he joined in the attack that day, repeatedly clubbing the victim's head with a branch before quietly accepting a handshake from his friend near the motionless body.

Eakin, 15, testified for more than two hours Friday in Grant County Superior Court during Savoie's first-degree murder trial.

Savoie, also 15, is accused of killing 13-year-old special education student Craig Sorger on Feb. 15, 2003, at Ephrata's Oasis Park. Savoie, who was charged at age 12, is being tried as an adult and faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted.

Eakin, whose testimony appeared to doom his friend's chance of being found not guilty, was himself sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty in April 2005 to complicity to commit second-degree murder for Sorger's death.

Dressed in prison garb and eyeglasses, Eakin entered the packed courtroom with his hair tightly slicked back and shoulders slumped forward, admitting he did not want to testify.

His account placed much of the blame on Savoie, starting with the decision to stop by Sorger's residence and ask the boy's mother, Lisa Sorger, if he could come outside to play.

The three boys walked to nearby Oasis Park and Sorger said he wanted to build a fort, Eakin testified. They began collecting sticks and leaning them against a tree.

Savoie, Eakin said, dared them to eat a mushroom, but they refused and continued building the fort.

Savoie left the fort area for about five minutes, Eakin said, then returned with a basketball-sized rock he jokingly said he planned to use for exercise.

While holding the rock, Savoie told Sorger to put his hands on the ground for 10 seconds to see if it was wet, Eakin said. When Sorger's count reached nine, Savoie dropped the rock on the back of Sorger's neck.

Savoie then began hitting Sorger. Eakin said he tried to stop the attack, but was pushed away by Savoie.

Sorger tried to run away several times, Eakin said, but Savoie went after him each time, grabbing his jacket and throwing him to the ground. As Savoie pinned the struggling boy face down into the ground and pounded him again and again with his hand, blood was coming from Sorger's neck, Eakin said.

"(Craig) said 'why are you doing this to me,'" Eakin recalled. "He was saying that he was dying."

"How long did the attack last?" Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell asked Eakin.

"Minutes," Eakin replied.

As Sorger's body lay motionless on the ground, Eakin said he decided to join in the attack.

"I picked a stick off the ground … hit Craig," he said. He confessed to striking Sorger in the head and legs more than 20 times.

"Did you hit Craig hard enough to make the stick break?" Knodell asked. Eakin said yes.

Eakin said he threw the stick to the ground, following the vicious killing. "(Savoie) walked to me and shook my hand."

Eakin said Savoie then walked down to Ping Pond "and threw something into the water," but he didn't see what it was. Prosecutors contend Savoie threw a knife in the pond. A folding knife was eventually found by divers, in the location Eakin described to authorities. Prosecutors say the broken blade matched the knife tip found embedded in Sorger's skull.

During cross examination, however, Eakin told defense attorney Randy Smith he never saw Savoie holding a knife during the attack.

An autopsy concluded Sorger's death was the result of 34 stab wounds.

As the two boys left the park, Eakin said they sunk Savoie's bloody shirt and sweatshirt in the pond and headed for Savoie's residence nearly a mile away. They stopped two times as Savoie washed blood from his hands, face, hair and shoes in Ping Pond.

Savoie predicted police would be asking them questions about Sorger's slaying, Eakin said.

"We came up with a plan," he said. They would tell police they played football with Sorger before he headed home. Later, they would tell police Sorger fell from a tree.

Although Eakin has changed his story several times, prosecutors believe his testimony will be a major factor in the jury's decision about Savoie's guilt or innocence.

Eakin also read the apology letter he'd written for the Sorger family. He read the letter last year prior to pleading guilty. On Friday, he said he admitted to his role in Sorger's killing because "I wanted to tell the truth."

Smith questioned Eakin about receiving 14 years in prison after pleading guilty, instead of eight years as recommended by prosecutors.

"I wasn't happy, but I deserved it," Eakin responded.

Smith asked Eakin if he felt lied to in his plea deal.

"Isn't it true, Jake, that you were told that if you said Evan did it, you'd get a better deal?" Smith asked.

"No, I was never told that."

Smith and defense attorney Monty Hormel said they plan to question Eakin further this week as a defense witness.