Superior Court Judge David Edwards handed Chandler Meade — the Hoquiam man who pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to the June 10 murder of his common-law wife Lael Hyvonen — the maximum sentence allowable by law, just over 31.5 years, Friday morning.

Meade shot and killed his wife in front of their two young children.

“In my opinion that’s still an inadequate range. If the court could impose an exceptional sentence I would,” said Edwards. “Mr. Meade has proven without a doubt he should spend the rest of his life incarcerated.”

Under state sentencing guideline laws, the maximum sentence for a first-time offender for first-degree murder is 320 months. Since Meade used a firearm when gunning down Hyvonen — in plain sight of their two young children — inside the Hoquiam home they share, another 60 months was automatically tacked on, for a total of 380 months.

“It’s hard to believe, with a person he once loved enough to have children, what got us to this point,” said County Prosecutor Katie Svoboda in her opening remarks. “I’m recommending the 380 months plus 36 months community custody.”

Svoboda did add in court, and later outside the courtroom, that Meade’s decision to plead guilty did keep his young children from having to take the stand against their father.

“I don’t think the range is adequate either, but he did plea and spared his children from having to testify,” she said.

Meade’s defense attorney, David Arcuri of Centralia, then addressed Edwards.

“This has been a difficult day for everyone involved,” he said. “Mr. Meade is fortunate and grateful he is not facing any aggravating factors and we are agreeing to the 380 months.”

Arcuri noted that at his arraignment Meade had wanted to plead guilty right then and there, but “as his defense attorney I could not allow him to do that.” He also noted his client’s eagerness to plead guilty spared more than just his children the added stress of a jury trial.

“I think Chandler deserves appropriate credit for not letting this case get to trial,” said Arcuri, adding that with the evidence against his client he had little doubt a jury trial would have ended with a similar sentence. “It would have required the parents, the children and siblings to testify against him. I have never seen all three have to testify in my experience. I think by doing so he made this a less scarring experience and he is accepting responsibility.”

Hyvonen’s mother, Angie Cabe, stepped forward to speak on behalf of her daughter.

“I thought I knew what love was, until March 21, 1992, I realized I had no idea as I held her in my arms for the first time,” she said. “I swore I would give my life to protect her and I would always be there for her, and I was.”

She alluded to the domestic violence aspect of the case, which in the end did not play a part in the sentencing and has not been corroborated officially.

“As much as I wanted Lael to leave him, she usually told me to shut up or mind my own business,” said Cabe. “The helplessness was awful because it didn’t seem like I could change anything. The past four years have been a nightmare. I am broken, I don’t feel like I belong here anymore and I don’t want to be here without her.”

While not required to allow it, Arcuri asked that Meade’s mother, Liza Rohrer, be allowed to speak; Judge Edwards allowed it.

“There is no defense for what he has done; it has changed the lives of so many people. He took away the mother of his children. For both families, it has changed the course of our lives forever,” she said. “He knew the severity of what he had done, he knew what he had done was wrong, and waited at my home for the police to come pick him up. He has had some mental issues, but that isn’t an excuse. But I’m his mom and I love him.”

When Meade was asked if he would like to speak, he paused and took several deep breaths. He pulled a prepared statement from his pocket but did not read from it. When he did speak, it was barely audible.

“I have walked a hard path the past couple of years; I’ve lost a lot,” he said. He lost an older sibling just a few months before he killed Hyvonen. “I have tried, and failed. I worry about her family, the family I’ve been part of for years. I wish I could go back, but … I’m sorry … sorry.”

Outside the courtroom, after the sentence had been handed down, Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers said, “This was a tough case.”

Cabe hugged Svoboda outside the courtroom and thanked Myers for the work his department had done. When asked about the children, Cabe said they were loved and adjusting, and that the counseling and other services provided to them by the county were helping them adjust to a new life and deal with the trauma they had witnessed. “They have really opened up to it,” she said.

Meade began serving his sentence immediately. A full sentence would mean he will be in prison until he’s in his late 50s.