Damian Eiffert pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2024 death of his 61-year-old father, Robert Eiffert.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane man who admitted fatally stabbing his father inside an East Central apartment has been sentenced to 257 months, or more than 21 years, in prison, closing a murder case that began with a neighborhood emergency and ended after a highway standoff.

Damian C. Eiffert, 40, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Spokane County Superior Court before Judge Harold Clarke III imposed the sentence. Robert Eiffert, 61, died Oct. 22, 2024, after he was attacked in his apartment near Thor Street and First Avenue. The prison term was at the low end of the standard sentencing range, which extended to nearly 30 years, according to local reporting based on court records.

The judgment means Damian Eiffert will spend more than two decades in state custody for a killing that investigators pieced together through physical evidence, surveillance footage and accounts from neighbors and people he contacted afterward. KREM reported that the prosecution and defense jointly recommended the 257-month term after Eiffert accepted responsibility and entered his plea. Court information cited by the station also called for 36 months of community custody after his release from prison.

The sentence resolves the central criminal charge stemming from the afternoon attack, but it does not erase the abrupt sequence that unfolded at the apartment. Spokane police said officers were sent to the area at 2:29 p.m. after receiving a report of a stabbing. They found a wounded man and attempted lifesaving measures with medical personnel. Robert Eiffert died at the scene. Detectives from the department’s Major Crimes Unit then took over the investigation. Neighbors described finding Robert Eiffert near the entrance of the apartment building. One witness told investigators that he saw Damian Eiffert leave the residence, pass over his injured father and drive away in Robert Eiffert’s car, according to court documents reported by The Spokesman-Review. The elder Eiffert had managed to move from the apartment before collapsing outside, according to accounts of surveillance video and the crime scene.

Inside the home, detectives found evidence indicating that the attack began in the living room. A trail led from the building entrance back to a recliner, and investigators found a steak knife on the floor in front of the chair. Court records said Robert Eiffert suffered wounds to his head, neck and chest. Those injuries were reported in restrained terms in court coverage, and the available records did not indicate that anyone else was physically injured inside the apartment.

Investigators also relied on statements from Damian Eiffert’s mother and former girlfriend. His mother told police that her son called her shortly after the killing and sounded “amped up and all over the place.” According to her account in court documents, he said he had asked his father for a ride to substance-use treatment and became angry when his father refused. He also reportedly said he had used methamphetamine and was experiencing symptoms of opioid withdrawal.

Those statements provided investigators with an account of what had happened, but they did not excuse the killing or establish a medical defense. Substance use and withdrawal were part of the circumstances described in the records, while the criminal case remained focused on Eiffert’s intentional conduct and his responsibility for his father’s death. No evidence in the available reporting suggested that Robert Eiffert posed an immediate physical threat to his son before the attack.

Damian Eiffert’s former girlfriend gave police another account of his movements after he left the apartment. She said he called her using his father’s phone and asked her to meet him in an alley near her home. When she arrived, he hugged her, told her he loved her and said that he had killed his father, according to court records. He then drove away. Her statement became one of several reported admissions that investigators used while searching for him.

The search continued overnight. Spokane police said officers received tips about the suspect’s location but did not immediately find him. Investigators obtained an arrest warrant in case he was contacted outside Spokane County. At about 7:50 the next morning, a Washington State Patrol trooper came upon a disabled vehicle on westbound Interstate 90 near Cheney. A check showed the car had been reported stolen, and the lone occupant was identified as Eiffert.

The roadside encounter brought traffic to a stop in both directions. Police said Eiffert was uncooperative, claimed he had a gun and reached toward his waistband. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office sent its SWAT team, crisis negotiators, behavioral health personnel and air-support resources to assist the State Patrol. Police said Eiffert made threatening comments and repeatedly moved in and out of the vehicle while holding different items. Negotiators tried to persuade him to surrender. Shortly after 9 a.m., Eiffert ran from the vehicle but was detained a short distance away, police said. Authorities did not report that any officer fired a weapon during the arrest. He was taken into custody on suspicion of second-degree murder, and the case then moved through Spokane County’s court system.

At Eiffert’s first court appearance, a deputy prosecutor described him as having an extensive criminal record and outstanding warrants when he was arrested. Later reports differed in how they counted his prior felony convictions, but the records consistently showed that he had multiple felony cases in his past. His criminal history and his legal status at the time of the killing affected the sentencing range available to the court.

Second-degree murder under Washington law covers certain intentional killings that do not require the state to prove the advance planning associated with first-degree murder. By pleading guilty, Eiffert gave up the right to require prosecutors to prove the case at trial. The plea also prevented a jury from having to hear detailed testimony about the attack, the statements attributed to him and the evidence collected from the apartment and vehicle.

The judge’s 257-month term amounts to 21 years and five months. Although commonly described as a 21-year sentence, the exact number of months controls how the judgment is administered. Any credit for time already served and the calculation of a release date are handled under state correctional rules and were not detailed in the publicly reviewed reports.

Robert Eiffert’s death was first announced by police without his name because the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office was responsible for releasing his identity and cause of death. Later court reporting identified him and confirmed that the case was treated as a homicide. The public reports reviewed for this article did not include a detailed victim-impact statement or extended comments from relatives at sentencing.

The guilty plea and prison judgment now shift the case from prosecution to punishment. Eiffert is expected to serve his sentence in the Washington state prison system, followed by the court-ordered period of community custody reported by KREM. No additional trial is scheduled on the second-degree murder charge.

Author note: Last updated July 28, 2026.