Guilty Verdict in Murder of Woodinville Teacher Prudence Hockley

Johnnie Lee Wiggins was convicted of second-degree murder on Tuesday in the 2011 death of Woodinville High School teacher Prudence Hockley, SeattlePI.com reports.

Hockley, 55, was beaten unconscious by Wiggins, her boyfriend, outside her Seattle home on Christmas Eve 2011. She died a short time later at Harborview Medical Center.

Hockley joined the WHS faculty in 1997-1998 and taught English. She was a native of New Zealand who completed her graduate studies at the University of Canterbury and the University of Washington. 

According to court documents, Wiggins initially denied attacking Hockley. He later told police he went to her house to deliver a gift and didn’t mean "for anyone to get hurt.” He said when he saw another man leaving Hockley’s house, things just “went bad.”

Hockley went outside to confront Wiggins, a semi-professional body-builder who has a history of violence and steroid use. Her 13-year-old daughter, who was home at the time of the attack, heard a loud thump and went outside to find her mother unresponsive on the side of the house.

Wiggins will be sentenced July 19 and faces 20 to 30 years in prison, according to the PI, but prosecutors may ask for a longer sentence given the defendant's criminal history and because the murder took place in the vicinity of a child.

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Related coverage:

Woodinville Teacher Dies at Home

Hockley's Death Ruled a Homicide, Suspect in Custody

Suspect Charged With Second-Degree Murder in Teacher's Death

Prudence Hockley: Gone Today, Remembered Forever

Kiwi: The Bird, Not the Fruit, Remembrances of Prudence Hockley