SPOKANE, Wash. – The scheduled sentencing hearing for the former Pasco police officer convicted of murder has been pushed back. In late December, Richard Aguirre, 59, was found guilty of murdering a Spokane woman in 1986.
Spokane police detectives used DNA evidence at the scene where victim Ruby Doss was found to link Aguirre to the crime. His first trial in 2021 ended in a hung jury after they failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Aguirre’s second trial was a bench trial, meaning the judge would decide his fate. That trial began in late November of 2023. The day after Christmas, the judge found Aguirre guilty of murdering Ruby Doss.
Aguirre was initially supposed to be sentenced Feb. 5. According to court records, Aguirre’s team filed a motion for substitution of counsel and a continuance for that sentencing hearing. The judge approved the substitution and continued the sentencing hearing until March 4.
Aguirre had been out on bail during the proceedings but was immediately taken into custody after his conviction. He’s currently listed as an inmate at the Spokane County Jail.
According to trial testimony, Ruby Doss was found beaten, stabbed and strangled in east Spokane in January of 1986. For years, the case went cold until DNA tied Aguirre to the scene. Investigators say Ruby Doss was working as a sex worker at the time of her murder.
