State Of Washington, V. Larry Jermoe Gudgel

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 18, 2026
Docket87429-2
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington, V. Larry Jermoe Gudgel (State Of Washington, V. Larry Jermoe Gudgel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Of Washington, V. Larry Jermoe Gudgel, (Wash. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 87429-2-I

Respondent, DIVISION ONE

v. UNPUBLISHED OPINION

LARRY JEROME GUDGEL,

Appellant.

FELDMAN, J. — Larry Jerome Gudgel appeals his convictions for arson in

the second degree, domestic violence; arson in the second degree; and domestic

violence felony violation of a court order. Gudgel argues (a) the trial court abused

its discretion by admitting under ER 404(b) vulgar and threatening voicemails he

left the victim, (b) the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support the

domestic violence aggravator, (c) the trial court abused its discretion by admitting

witness testimony in violation of ER 1002, and (d) the trial court abused its

discretion by denying his motion for a mistrial. Because Gudgel has not

established an entitlement to relief, we affirm his convictions.

I

Gudgel and Michelle McClain met in 2017 and began a serious relationship

that lasted about two and a half years. When their relationship ended in August No. 87429-2-I

2019, Gudgel believed he was entitled to retain possession of McClain’s late

father’s Ford F150 truck, which McClain had stored on Gugdel’s property while

they were dating. Gudgel refused to let McClain take the truck back even though

McClain’s late father had bequeathed the truck to McClain’s nephew in his will.

Gudgel took the lug nuts off the truck’s wheels so it could not be moved.

Eventually, McClain decided to “act like [she] was going to get back with” Gudgel

so she could get the truck back. One day when Gudgel was running an errand,

McClain stayed at his house, found the truck’s lug nuts, put them back on the

truck’s wheels, and drove the truck away.

After McClain took the truck back, Gudgel was upset and called and texted

McClain “all the time,” sometimes 20 times a day, demanding she return the truck

to him. He also left McClain 16 voicemails calling her vulgar, demeaning names

and threatening her if she did not return the truck to him. In the following months,

Gudgel was convicted of three crimes related to McClain. First, in January 2020,

Gudgel forged a document purporting to show that McClain transferred the truck’s

title to him. Based on this forgery, Gudgel was convicted of attempted second

degree identity theft. Second, in February 2020, despite being subject to a no-

contact order that prohibited him from having contact with McClain, Gudgel

continued to call McClain about her father’s truck and called her work “so much

that [she] couldn’t even do [her] job.” Based on this conduct, Gudgel was convicted

of domestic violence misdemeanor violation of a court order. Third, on April 1,

2020, Gudgel violated the no-contact order again by going to McClain’s apartment

in Fall City. On that day, McClain discovered her vehicle smelled of gasoline and

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had been hit in the rear. Based on his presence at McClain’s home that day,

Gudgel was convicted of domestic violence felony violation of a court order. A five-

year no contact order was then issued prohibiting Gudgel from coming within 1,000

feet of McClain or her residence or vehicle, and Gudgel was sentenced in

November 2020 to 22.5 months in prison with 12 months of community custody.

On April 11, 2023, McClain woke up around 12:30 a.m. to the sound of her

car alarm going off. McClain tried to turn off the car alarm using the key fob. When

the alarm kept sounding, she went to her bedroom window and saw that her car

was on fire. McClain’s landlord, Gregory Larson, woke up to the sounds of McClain

screaming about the fire and saw that his car was also on fire. McClain and Larson

called 911, and firefighters responded and extinguished the fires. Antonio Boozer,

a fire investigator with King County Sherriff’s Department, concluded the fire was

incendiary.

Surveillance footage captured the incident. The footage shows a van

driving slowly past the house and then driving back past the house the other way.

Then the video shows two people crossing the street, walking up Larson’s

driveway, and lighting Larson’s car on fire. McClain and Larson both testified they

recognized Gudgel as the person on the surveillance footage who was wearing the

lighter colored hoodie. McClain recognized Gudgel from his gait, frame,

movement, and clothing. Larson also recognized Gudgel from his posture and

clothing based on seeing Gudgel regularly in and around his house. After Larson’s

car started burning, Gudgel walked to McClain’s car, which was parked on the

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street, and lit her car on fire. The two people then ran away. Both cars were

destroyed and deemed a total loss.

During law enforcement’s investigation, Detective Anthony Palmer with the

King County Sherrif’s Office conducted surveillance of Gudgel and observed him

enter a bluish-purple Dodge Caravan parked in front of Gudgel’s relative’s house

and drive off in it. Fire Investigator Boozer testified that the van had similar features

to the vehicle captured on surveillance footage that drove by McClain’s apartment

on April 11, 2023. For example, both vehicles had black trim pieces all the way

across from the front window to the rear window, both vehicles had a little diamond

shape where the side mirrors are, both vehicles had similar door trim on the

bottom, and both vehicles had similar indentions.

Gudgel was charged with arson in the second degree, domestic violence;

arson in the second degree; and domestic violence felony violation of a court order.

The case proceeded to a jury trial that was bifurcated into two phases. In the first

phase of the trial, the jury found Gudgel guilty of two counts of arson in the second

degree and domestic violence felony violation of a court order. The jury also

returned a special verdict finding that Gudgel and McClain were intimate partners

prior to or at the time Gudgel burned McClain’s vehicle. During the second phase

of the trial, the jury heard testimony regarding aggravating circumstances

surrounding the first arson charge. The jury was provided with additional

instructions, and returned special verdicts finding that the arson related to

McClain’s vehicle was an aggravated domestic violence offense and that Gudgel

had previously been convicted twice for violating the provisions of a court order.

-4- No. 87429-2-I

Based on these special verdicts, the trial court imposed an exceptional sentence

totaling 96 months in prison. This timely appeal followed.

II

A. ER 404(b)

Prior to trial, Gudgel moved to exclude evidence of the 16 voicemails he left

McClain in August 2019 demanding that she return the truck. The trial court initially

excluded the voicemails. Following a mistrial, a new judge was assigned to the

matter. That judge agreed to reconsider the previous ruling, listened to all 16

voicemails, and concluded that it would admit 5 of the 16 voicemails. Like the

others, these 5 voicemails include numerous threats, vulgar insults, and expletives.

Gudgel, for example, called McClain a “lying whore,” threatened “You'll get what's

coming to you,” and repeatedly demanded “give me my truck back.” Gudgel

argues the trial court abused its discretion in admitting these 5 voicemails under

ER 404(b).

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