Bellevue man who killed aunt with claw hammer sentenced to 27 1/2 years in prison

SEATTLE -- A Bellevue man was sentenced Friday to 27 1/2 years in prison for the killing of his 72-year-old aunt in the Bellevue apartment they shared.

Mark J. Irwin, 53, had pleaded guilty to killing his aunt, Barbara Irwin, in April by hitting her in the head with a claw hammer.

Police found Irwin with blood and scratches on his body sitting in his aunt's car about 100 yards from their residence in the Twelve Central Square apartments, according to the police report.

A man with Irwin in the car allegedly told officers the two men had smoked crack earlier in the day. Irwin told authorities he'd gone to Seattle to smoke crack, was robbed and later came home on a bus. He said initially that he didn't have a key to his aunt's apartment, and slept in the lobby on the night she was killed.