[2]: 91 In the late 1990s, Perry spent 18 months in jail after being pulled over in Oregon's red light district with a gun and knife.
[5] Perry shot and killed Yolanda A. Sapp (26), Nickie I. Lowe (34), and Kathleen A. Brisbois (38) during a four-month period in 1990.
[2]: 92 [9] In a 2012 affidavit, Perry told police that she intentionally had gender-affirmation surgery, which she underwent in Thailand in 2000, "as a permanent way to control violence".
However, due to an ethics breach in the Spokane County Public Defender's Office, attorneys Kyle Zeller, Nathan Poston and Brooke Hagara resigned in April of that year, forcing the trial to be postponed.
[5] The prosecution argued, contrarily, that Perry underwent gender-affirmation surgery in order to avoid suspicion in the killings.