PORT ANGELES — The family of a woman who was beaten to death by her live-in boyfriend in December 2004 has settled a claim against the state Department of Corrections for nearly $1 million.
Amber Bulus-Steed, 26, was brutally beaten by her boyfriend, Nathan Eugene Hipsher, 26, in a Sequim motel room and was then driven to his parents’ house outside Port Angeles with her two small children in the car.
She died of the injuries.
Hipsher was already a convicted felon who was under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections.
When attorneys representing Bulus-Steed’s family began requesting records in preparation for a lawsuit, state lawyers approached them and they began negotiating a resolution.
That resolution was reached June 6, said civil attorney Steve Bulzomi of Tacoma.
The total amount the state will pay is $975,000.
The money, less attorney fees, will be held in trust for Bulus-Steed’s two young children.
Bulzomi said he could not disclose how much of the settlement will go to attorneys.
