Beacon plumber killed on job was a ‘marquee human,’ owner says at killer’s sentencing

A 57-year-old man who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for fatally shooting a plumber he’d called to his home south of Tacoma for a repair job was sentenced Friday to 21 years in prison.

Jacques Noel Dothard pleaded guilty June 27 to using a pistol to shoot Thomas Lorezca in his work truck multiple times outside the defendant’s house in Spanaway. According to court records, the May 23, 2022 shooting occurred after the victim hit a gate on the property.

Lorezca, 40 of Kent, was a longtime employee of Beacon Plumbing. Company owner Bill Cahill addressed the court before Pierce County Superior Court Judge Thomas P. Quinlan rendered a sentence. Cahill thanked the judge, investigators and prosecuting attorneys for their work on the case and what they did for Lorezca’s family.

“Their family will never be the same again,” Cahill said. “But they now have some kind of peace that there’s resolution.”

Cahill said Lorezca lived an incredible life and invested a lot of time in training some of the company’s plumbers. He said Beacon Plumbing has “all kinds” of people, some with ups and downs in their lives, but that they try to get them walking in the right direction.

“Tom had a major role in that,” Cahill said.

Wearing a gray and pink jail uniform, Dothard entered the courtroom in a wheelchair with the assistance of a sheriff’s deputy. According to charging documents, the shooting was captured on surveillance footage. It reportedly showed Dothard and Lorezca standing outside the victim’s truck at 7:55 p.m., a little more than an hour after prosecutors say the plumber was called to Dothard’s residence. When the victim returned to his truck, Dothard allegedly walked to the driver’s side door and fired into the vehicle.

Deputies were dispatched to the 1000 block of Military Road for a report of a shooting at about 8:25 p.m., records state. Dothard was arrested outside his home without incident, and he has remained in custody for the duration of the case.

Dothard’s home and a neighbor’s residence were searched, according to court records, and deputies found weapons and ammunition. Records show that about two months before the shooting, the defendant called a veterans’ crisis line after he allegedly threatened to kill his son.

Prosecutors originally charged Dothard with first-degree murder and four addiional counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, but the murder charge was amended to second-degree murder and three of the unlawful possession of a firearm charges were dropped before Dothard pleaded guilty.

Dothard, an Army veteran, was convicted in 1996 of residential burglary in Clark County, according to court records. He was found guilty in 2007 of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in King County.

Quinlan imposed a sentence that prosecutors and the defendant’s attorney agreed to recommend, 234 months in prison plus a 24-month deadly weapon sentencing enhancement, which was at the high end of the standard sentencing range for defendants prosecuted in similar cases.

Before the sentence was handed down, Dothard’s defense attorney, James Curtis, told the court he wanted to share his “deepest condolences” with family and friends of Lorezca.

Curtis said Dothard “broke down” during their first meeting in the Pierce County Jail and acknowledged that he needed to take responsibility. The defense attorney said the case wasn’t about Dothard’s guilt or innocence, but about the intersection of his mental health and substance abuse. He said Dothard had been drinking a lot before the shooting.

A different man was in court Friday, Curtis said. He said Dothard was now “sufficiently medicated” and sober. But the defendant would still pay for what he did, Curtis said.

“It’s hard because it didn’t have to happen, and he did take the life of a man who should be here today,” Curtis said.

When Dothard was given the chance to speak, he said he had faced many new realities in the last few years, including the loss of his home, dogs, friendships and family.

“The most difficult reality that I face is the fact that I killed Thomas Lorezca,” Dothard said.

He told the court that he initially rejected the idea he was guilty of murder, but the fact was he did it, and the only way forward was acceptance and accountability. He said he did not feel sorry for himself.

After court adjourned, Cahill and another representative of Beacon Plumbing told The News Tribune that Lorezca was a “marquee human being” who worked hard to provide a good way of life for his mother and brothers. The man was like a son to Cahill, he said, and he said he was sure Lorezca was “fearless” in death.

“There were so many people who showed up for his funeral,” Cahill said. “It was overwhelming, the number of people, and the families that had had an impact. It was a real dark day.”

Lorezca worked for Beacon Plumbing for 16 years. Cahill said he started at the bottom and worked his way to the top, where he was a senior plumber and manager. Before his death, Cahill said, there were plans for Lorezca to be the first person to open a branch of Beacon Plumbing out of state in Las Vegas. Twenty trucks had been purchased for the expansion, but Cahill said the company had to “put the brakes” on the plans.

Lorezca was also a proud owner of a miniature husky named Alpine. Cahill said the dog went everywhere with Lorezca, including to work each day, and he was with Lorezca on the day of the shooting. Beacon Plumbing now looks after Alpine as the company dog.

Cahill said Quinlan made his sentencing decision with integrity, and he said he thought prosecutors and the judge did the best they could given the circumstances of the case.

Asked what he thought of Dothard’s statements to the court, Cahill recounted the phone call he received from an employee the evening of Lorezca’s murder. Cahill was asleep when he got the call, and after he got the news, he said he told the employee “no” several times. He couldn’t believe it.

Cahill said he was sure Dothard’s actions were premeditated.

“I don’t believe anything Mr. Dothard said. I think that he’s a cold-blooded murderer that hopefully won’t be violent in prison and kill again,” Cahill said. “And I hope that Tom is his last victim. I don’t want to see any family go through what the Beacon Plumbing family went through.”

Outside of the courtroom, a friend of Dothard, Alton Washington, told The News Tribune that he felt the shooting was completely out of character. The two met during basic training for the Army in March 1987 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He said they were the only two people of color, and they became friends on the first day.

Dothard stayed in the military for over a decade. He and Washington kept in touch occasionally, but Washington, 62, said he hadn’t seen the man since 1988. Washington drove from Fort Worth, Texas for the sentencing hearing. He said he knew Dothard as a giving person who would help anybody. But he said the pressures of life treat everyone differently, and Dothard succumbed to it.

“I think he got what he deserves to be honest with you,” Washington said. “I just wish it hadn’t happened.”