Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three of the individuals implicated in trafficking stolen fuel from a residence in Doty have pleaded not guilty and are out of custody awaiting trials, but law enforcement is still looking for the man they say owned a canopied pickup truck with darkened windows which held two large fuel tanks, a portable pump and a nozzle.

John Lewis, aka Jason A. Lewis

The man identified as Jason A. Lewis, 47, was arrested when deputies searched the property on Elk Creek Road late last month, but after he made bail, the sheriff’s office concluded he really was John Lewis. They haven’t seen him since.

Detectives were led to their suspects from nighttime surveillance video at a Texaco station on U.S. Highway 12 in Silver Creek from July 28 that showed three vehicles arrive and somehow pump about $6,000 worth of fuel without paying.

They subsequently found numerous containers of gasoline including a 55-gallon drum of it and other items such as a half dozen plug-in access keypads for gas pumps at the Doty property.

Charges were filed Aug. 1 against Lewis, 28-year-old Harold E. Lusk who resides on the Elk Creek property, and Raymond T. Hankins, 48, from Yelm. Prosecutors subsequently charged Lusk’s girlfriend, 20-year-old Alyssa J. Hanson with trafficking in stolen property and possession of methamphetamine.

Lusk and Hanson both appeared in Lewis County Superior Court early last week and again yesterday, when they got dates set for their trials.

Taken from the Silver Creek business was about 1,600 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline, highway diesel and off-road diesel, according to charging documents.

The trials are all on the court calendar for this autumn.
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For background, read “On the run: Lewis County deputies seeking three in connection with large-scale fuel theft” from Sunday August 10, 2014, here

Updated at 5:12 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed this morning the 38-year-old man involved in a fight at a Centralia home on Monday night has died.

He and the 35-year-old resident from the home at the 2700 block of Harrison Avenue were both taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with stab wounds.

No names have yet been released.

The sheriff’s office related on Tuesday morning they learned the 38-year-old and a 33-year-old woman went to the residence shortly before midnight, and a fight ensued between the two men.

Initial information from the resident indicated the dispute was over the woman they both had dated. But she left before law enforcement arrived.

The 38-year-old was said to have stabbed the 35-year-old with an unknown object. The 35-year-old told deputies he grabbed a kitchen knife and used it.

The 35-year-old has been released from the hospital, according to Cmdr. Steve Aust.

Detectives are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

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For background, read “Two Centralia men injured in knife fight, one on life support” from Tuesday Aug. 19, 2014 at 10:23 a.m., here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two men are hospitalized with stab wounds after a fight at a Centralia home last night about a woman they both have dated.

Aid called to the 2700 block of Harrison Avenue about 11:30 p.m. found two injured males and transported them to Providence Centralia Hospital. Both were subsequently taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Deputies are looking for the woman they believe can provide a witness statement, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

“We really need to find her so we can put some of the puzzle pieces together,” Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning.

Brown said it happened at the residence of one of the victims, a 35-year-old man. The other victim was unable to give any information to deputies, she said.

The investigation has revealed thus far that a 38-year-old Centralia man and the woman arrived to the home shortly before midnight and an argument ensued, according to the sheriff’s office.

The 35-year-old told deputies they began fighting, he was stabbed in the neck with an unknown object and the other man yelled he was going to kill him, according to the sheriff’s office.

Brown relates the 35-year-old said he grabbed a kitchen knife nearby to defend himself and stabbed the 38-year-old.

The 38-year-old is on life support in critical condition with knife injuries to his face and head, according to responders.

No names have been released.

Brown said the woman, 33, who the two were arguing over, called 911 but left the scene in a white VW Passat prior to the arrival of law enforcement. She has an unrelated outstanding felony warrant for her arrest, Brown said, perhaps being the reason for her departure.

Detectives believe she may be in Grays Harbor County.

Brown didn’t have details about the nature and number of injuries each man sustained, but firefighters report one victim was stabbed in the lower neck/shoulder area and was in serious condition. Brown described the injuries to the 35-year-old resident as severe and to his neck and face.

Brown said both men are in critical condition.

The object with which the resident was stabbed has not been found, according to Brown, and detectives are continuing their investigation.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Convicted triple-murderer John A. Booth Jr. has lost one appeal, but at least one other is still pending.

The former Onalaskan was sentenced to life in prison for the August 2010 shootings at the home of 52-year-old David West Sr., from whom prosecutors contended Booth was seeking payment of a debt for Robbie Russell, a local drug dealer.

John A. Booth Jr.

Seattle lawyer Stephanie Cunningham argued numerous reasons his convictions in 2011 by a jury should be overturned, but a three-member panel of the Washington State Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions.

The 23-page opinion issued earlier this week was authored by Justice Thomas R. Bjorgen, with justices Bradley A. Maxa and Linda Cj Lee concurring.

According to testimony and evidence in the eight-day trial in Lewis County Superior Court, Booth was visiting the Salkum-Onalaska area residence when West brought out a shotgun to get him to leave and Booth shot him with a 9 mm handgun. Prosecutors said the shootings that followed were executions to eliminate witnesses.

Losing their lives that day, along with West Sr., were 16-year-old David “D.J.” West Jr. and 50-year-old Tony Williams of Randle. West Sr.’s girlfriend, Denise Salts, survived. Booth denied shooting them.

Booth’s appeal lawyer claimed that 1) the to-convict jury instruction violated his right to trial by jury and 2) the state presented insufficient evidence to allow a conviction on the attempted extortion charge. In a statement of additional grounds, Booth also alleged that (3) the state obtained evidence against him in violation of the Privacy Act, chapter 9.73RCW; 4) the prosecutor committed misconduct when cross -examining him; 5) the trial court infringed his right to counsel; and 6) the trial court erroneously imposed legal financial obligations that his indigence prevented him from paying.

The appeals court disagreed with most of Cunningham’s contentions.

Booth was sentenced under the state’s so-called three strikes law.

A post-trial motion Booth filed from Walla Walla State Penitentiary asking a judge to to vacate his judgement and sentence however, still has not been argued.

Booth contends eavesdropping on inmates in the jail was governmental misconduct and jeopardized his rights to confidential communications with his lawyers. He called it “ear hustling”.

For that motion, he is represented by Aberdeen-based defense attorney Erik Kupka and his partner.

Booth was convicted in Lewis County Superior Court of one count of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, attempted extortion and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
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For background, read:

• “Convict loses argument about burial expenses related to 2010 triple-homicide” from Monday December 16, 2013, here

• “One of John Booth’s appeals to murder conviction grinding slowly through local court” from Wednesday September 4, 2013, here

• “Ear hustling”: Convicted murderer John Booth tells judge about problems at Lewis County Jail” from Friday July 5, 2013, here

• State of Washington, Respondent V John Allen Booth Jr., Appellant – No. 42919-5-II, Unpublished Opinion, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A rural Centralia home burned overnight but the resident and his dog escaped without injury, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

Firefighters called about 3:30 a.m. to the 400 block of Jones Road at the far east end of their jurisdiction found the two-story house fully engulfed in flames, according to Assistant Chief Rick Mack.

The man who lives there was already outside and using a garden hose on it, Mack said.

Chief Mike Kytta reports the fire was too far along to enter the building and was fought only from the exterior.

They were joined by firefighters from Chehalis.

Crews were able to keep the fire from spreading to a storage building, a boat and a pickup truck, according to Kytta.

The house and an adjacent wood shed containing several cords of wood were described as total losses.

Mack said the cause is under investigation, but may be hard to pinpoint given the amount of destruction.

The occupant had been sleeping and was awakened by a smoke alarm, Mack said. When he got up, he saw fire in the area of his enclosed back porch, but couldn’t tell exactly what it was, he said.

The working smoke alarm was key in this situation, Mack said.

“It really is a critical life saving tool,” he said. “As evidenced by this incident here.”

The Red Cross is assisting the resident, according to the fire department.

By early Monday evening from a little bit beyond Teague Road, the wildfire had calmed. / Courtesy photo by Juan Martinez

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The fire fight west of Centralia is winding down but crews will continue work a few more days to make sure smoldering wood is all the way extinguished and complete what they call mop up.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources said the charred area was mapped at just under 60 acres.

“They were hoping at the end of today’s shift to have it 100 percent contained,” Rex Hapala said this evening.

Hapala said approximately 85 firefighters worked today, at the forest fire site about three miles past the end of Teague Road.

“The fire wasn’t very active at all last night,” Hapala said.

The blaze began on Sunday afternoon with Riverside Fire Authority responding, and personnel from DNR joining them as flames swept through some 25 acres that included 40-year-old timber.

The initial call was about a slash pile observed burning in a clear cut area off a logging road.

DNR set up a base at Centralia High School yesterday morning as numerous firefighters were summoned from  Lewis, Pacific and Cowlitz counties.

The property is DNR Trust Land, managed by the state agency with timber profits benefitting schools.

By yesterday afternoon, DNR Incident Commander Aaron Schmidt estimated the size at 40 acres and called it 25 percent contained. A helicopter dropped water on areas describe as hot spots as firefighters worked in 100 degree weather.

Inmate crews from Larch Creek and Naselle Youth Camp assisted as well.

It was the biggest fire DNR’s Pacific Cascade Region had battled in about two weeks, according to Schmidt.

The closest homes were probably a mile and a half away, at the end of Deep Creek Road out of Adna, Schmidt said.

The National Weather Service yesterday issued a red flag warning for dangerous fire weather, with expected lightning and some was seen in the area this morning, and some moisture came with it, according to Hapala.

Hapala said tomorrow they plan to bring in two new inmate crews to do line work around the perimeter, and create a better buffer zone.

He expects the work will continue through the end of the week.

“We’ll be out there a few more days, continuing to do mop up,” he said. “Some of the bigger fuels are still smoking and burning.”

Looking south, flames rise from the hillside beyond Teague Road around 8 p.m. on Sunday. / Courtesy photo by Tracie Trice

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Teague Road Fire: 08/11/2014 / Department of Natural Resources