MAN GETS 29 YEARS IN SLAYING OF PIERCE DEPUTY

Two-and-a-half years of anguish finally has come to a close for the family
and friends of slain Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy John Bananola.

In a packed Pierce County Superior Courtroom yesterday, Brian Eggleston, a
former Tacoma bartender, was sentenced to 29 years in prison for fatally
shooting Bananola during an October 1995 drug raid.

As Judge Leonard Kruse of Kitsap County handed down the sentence - which
will run in addition to a 20-year sentence Eggleston was earlier given for
the assault on another deputy - Bananola family members and friends sighed
with relief.

Meanwhile, Eggleston's family and friends, who maintained he had only acted
in self defense, cried and hugged each other.

For Brooke Bananola, John Bananola's 16-year-old daughter, the sentencing
means a new chapter in life.

In a prepared statement read by her mother, Gloria Manning, she told the
court that after her father's murder she was hospitalized for an eating
disorder and eventually lost her will to live.

"I was dead inside," she wrote. "There will forever be a hole in my heart
where his love used to be."

Eggleston expressed his regret for the killing and insisting he never knew
Bananola was a sheriff's deputy when he fired the gun. His defense
attorneys contended he thought he was shooting intruders.

"If there is a genesis to this (crime), it's drugs and handguns," Kruse
said as he sentenced Eggleston.

Kruse said he found the case more disturbing than any he had experienced in
his 40 years of practicing law.

Because Bananola had been a Pierce County courtroom guard before joining
the Sheriff's Department, Kruse was brought in from Kitsap County to
sentence Eggleston, avoiding a conflict of interest.

In May, a jury convicted Eggleston of second-degree murder in his second
trial for the shooting death of Bananola. The first jury last year
deadlocked 10-2 in favor of conviction. That jury, however, did find
Eggleston guilty of selling and possessing drugs, and of assault for
shooting Deputy Warren Dogeagle during the raid.

According to authorities, the deputies raided Eggleston's home in East
Tacoma because sheriff's officials had acquired evidence that he sold
marijuana.

Prosecutors have contended that Eggleston was furious at seeing his
narcotics business coming to an end and that he chased Bananola down a
hallway, shooting him.

But relatives and supporters have portrayed Eggleston as a gentle man and
loyal friend who had always respected the law.

His lawyer argued at trial that Eggleston was groggy with sleep when
deputies burst into the house and that he instinctively fired at them to
protect his home, not knowing they were police officers.

Eggleston was shot in the chest and groin during the raid.

Before the sentencing, Linda Eggleston, Brian's mother, thanked her son,
saying his action during the raid saved her life and protected their home.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)