After a two-week trial, a Cowlitz County jury found John Roach guilty of Murder in the First Degree. The evidence presented at trial showed that on February 14, 2021, the victim Lisa Patterson was sleeping on a ramp behind the YMCA in Longview after midnight. Sometime after 12:24 a.m., Heritage Bank surveillance showed Roach walking toward Patterson’s location. Twenty-four minutes later, YMCA surveillance showed Roach walking away from Patterson’s location across the parking lot toward the AMPM store. Although there was no direct surveillance of his interaction with Patterson, surveillance indicates Roach remained at her location for approximately 18 minutes. Roach has multiple prior convictions for indecently exposing himself to isolated, female victims. After purchasing coffee at AMPM, Roach walked north on 15th Avenue and around the YMCA building, returning to Patterson’s location.
Roach attacked Patterson with a knife. The medical examination revealed Patterson suffered 17 stab wounds, consistent with being attacked from behind while laying on her left side facing the building. She was stabbed in the head, neck, back, arms, and leg. Ultimately, due to a large slashing wound across the front of her neck, Patterson suffered a severed carotid artery and jugular vein, resulting in her death. After murdering Patterson, Roach covered her with a blanket. The following afternoon, Patterson’s body was discovered by volunteers providing free meals across the street at the Family Health Center.
DNA testing later revealed Roach’s DNA to be present on Patterson’s upper thigh, on two bloody locations on the outside of the blanket that was pulled over her, and on a hat she had worn that was located under her body. In 2023, after Roach served a prison sentence for a subsequent arson conviction, he was arrested by the Longview Police Department and interviewed by detectives. Toward the end of the interview, he told detectives he heard voices, went into a trance, saw the aftermath, freaked out, and covered Patterson up.
In jail, Roach bragged to his cellmates about having murdered Patterson, claiming he had been taught to kill by his father. He also told his cellmates he would pretend to be mentally ill to avoid incarceration. His attempt failed when he was examined by a forensic psychologist who found he was malingering his symptoms of mental illness. Later, he told his own psychologist that voices in his head had told him to murder Patterson.
The jury found Roach acted with premeditated intent to kill when he murdered Patterson. Washington’s Adult Sentencing Guidelines set Roach’s standard sentencing range at 312 to 416 months. The State argued for the maximum sentence of 416 months. The Court sentenced the 49-year-old Roach to 340 months in prison. Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Eric Bentson and Assistant Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tony Carlow litigated the case on behalf of the State. Our office appreciates the Longview Police Department detectives’ work investigating the crime and their assistance during the trial to bring Roach to justice for this horrific crime.