Murder sentence reduced after high court drug ruling

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — The prison sentence for a man convicted of murder was reduced by more than seven years following a recent state Supreme Court decision. A jury in 2019 found Matthew McGowan guilty of first-degree murder for tying Michael Boone to a tree and leaving him to die in the cold at a secluded homeless camp in Everett. He was sentenced to 45 years. About a year later, the state Supreme Court struck down Washington’s main drug possession statute. The ruling, known as the Blake decision, rendered one of McGowan’s prior convictions moot. That changed the sentencing range for McGowan.