Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – There will be no bigamy trial in Lewis County Superior Court next week.

A former Lewis County woman who lives in Shelton was sentenced yesterday to 30 days in jail for marrying a man when she apparently already had two husbands.

Carrie R. Justus, 45, pleaded guilty as charged, but made a so-called Alford plea and in her written statement to the court said she maintains her innocence.

Justus was charged in December after her husband informed a sheriff’s detective he had learned from his wife during an argument she was still married to someone else.

The husband, Steven Felix, is serving time in a state prison near Spokane. Her second husband  is incarcerated in a North Carolina prison. Her first husband lives in Sequim, although she claimed that was not a valid marriage, according to court documents.

Lewis County prosecutors claimed Justus married Felix in Lewis County in August 2007; Justus said in February they actually wed in Las Vegas.

Justus’s attorney wrote she believed she had affirmative defenses, but recognized a high probability of conviction if she went to trial and that she wished to accept a plea offer.

Bigamy is a class C felony, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The standard sentencing range for bigamy is between zero and 364 days.

Justus was able to take advantage of a first-time offender option, with a standard sentencing range of zero to 90 days.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey yesterday gave her 30 days, and noted she could serve her time on electronic home monitoring.

He also fined her $1,000 and while he didn’t specifically order her to dissolve any of her marriages, she is required to engage in only law abiding behavior.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joely O’Rourke said today the judge asked her to take care of her divorces and she said she was in the process of doing so.

She would be breaking the law and violating the conditions of her sentence if she didn’t follow through, according to O’Rourke.

O’Rourke said Justus was cooperative and wanted to take care of the situation. It seemed she thought the husbands took care of dissolving the marriages, or probably didn’t know what she should have done or couldn’t afford it, she said.

“Although she did break the law, she didn’t strike me as a person who set out negligently to do that,” O’Rourke said.

Neither Justus nor her lawyer, Eric S. Valley whose office is in Shelton, returned phone calls for comment.

•••

For background, read “Former Chehalis woman accused of bigamy” from Sunday February 5, 2012, here

Todd Phelps listens to his attorney Don Blair after his sentence is imposed in Lewis County Superior Court.

Updated at 5:37 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Calling the case a meeting of a perfect predator and the perfect victim, Judge Nelson Hunt sentenced former Pe Ell girls’ softball coach Todd Phelps to the maximum prison time possible for the rape of a 16-year-old team member.

“It took you more than four months, but you got what you wanted Mr. Phelps,” Hunt said as he pronounced the sentence today. “I’m glad to see you have the support of family and friends, because you’re going to need it.”

Phelps, 52, was given two days shy of six years in prison.

Cuffed and clad in green and white striped jail garb, the former log truck driver looked back only once at his wife and two daughters seated behind him, and that was as he was led out of the Lewis County Superior Court room.

Phelps was convicted by a jury at the end of April of third-degree rape and second-degree sexual misconduct.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead today asked for the maximum sentence. Centralia defense attorney Don Blair asked for 10 months.

In a trial that extended into eight days, prosecutors described how Phelps gradually seduced a girl already troubled with low self esteem and depression and ultimately had sex with her that was clearly against her wishes. The jury took only a little more than four hours to find him guilty as charged.

The victim and her mother both addressed the court today before Phelps’ sentence was imposed.

The victim’s mother blasted Phelps, calling him sick, twisted and out of control for persuading her and her husband to trust them yet robbing their child of her innocence.

“You told our daughter she would be worth going to jail for,” she said. “Well, you got your wish. How do you feel now?”

The now 17-year-old girl described how she trusted him like a kind of super hero, who had her convinced her parents didn’t love her and then left her feeling like less than dirt.

“I never understood the word alone until I was balled up on the floor at Melody and Ben’s house, knowing I could never tell a soul,” she said.

Though her voice broke and she stifled sobs, the teenager continued, telling how she finally stood up and told, “before you could suck the life from me, like a spider to a smaller helpless bug.”

Phelps was forced to quit his job coaching the Pe Ell High School girls softball team in April of last year as he was investigated for violating school boundary policies, including texting the girl who was a team member, being alone with her and a kiss he said was on the forehead.

He was arrested in October in connection with an early April incident in which he had the teen to come by his house and asked her to take off her pants so he could see self-inflicted cuts on her legs.

A month later a charge of third-degree rape was added in connection with a July encounter with the girl at his brother’s Pe Ell home.

Deputy Prosecutor Halstead today reminded the judge the jury found aggravating factors, that Phelps used his position of trust with a particularly vulnerable victim, meaning he could be sentenced above the standard sentencing range.

“Clearly (the victim) has lost something she can never get back,” Halstead said. “And the community of Pe Ell has been torn apart.”

“He’s not safe in the community and not of an age he can be rehabilitated,” Halstead told the judge.

Defense attorney Blair said he understood the jury found the aggravating factors, but the standard range for the crime is six to 12 months.

He asked the judge to keep in mind the testimonials from supporters which had been placed in the court file.

“Todd is 52 years old and has never (before) been charged with a crime,” Blair said.

Phelps chose not to address the court.

For the second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, a gross misdemeanor, Phelps was given the maximum of 364 days.

For the third-degree rape, a felony, he was given four years plus 364 days. The judge allowed one day for community supervision.

The judge said the two sentences should be served consecutively.

After he announced the sentence, Judge Hunt explained that when a maximum sentence is requested, he asks himself if it is the worst he’s seen of the particular crime in question.

“The answer is a resounding yes,” Hunt said.

The judge signed the orders, including Phelps’ notice of intent to appeal.

•••

For background, read:

• “Former Pe Ell coach faces charge of third-degree rape of teenage student” from Tuesday November 29,  2011, here

• “Pe Ell coach rape trial set for next week, judge denies request to dismiss charges” from Wednesday March 21, 2012, here

• “Trial opens for former Pe Ell coach accused of sex crimes with teen” from Wednesday April 18, 2012, here

• “Pe Ell rape trial: Girl tells of kissing” from Friday April 20, 2012, here

• “Pe Ell rape trial: Teen testifies about alleged rape” from Saturday April 21, 2012, here

• “Pe Ell rape trial: Teen answers questions from defense attorney” from Tuesday April 24, 2012, here

• “Pe Ell rape trial: Family provides alibis for former coach” from Thursday April 26, 2012, here

• “Pe Ell rape trial: Guilty as charged” from Friday April 27, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Fire claimed an Onalaska home yesterday, the same residence where 58-year-old Terry Vance was slain in early March.

Nobody was injured and no one was home at the time, but the single-wide mobile home is a total loss, according to Lewis County FIre District 1 Chief Mark Conner.

Crews called to the 400 block of Pennel Avenue at about 4 p.m. found the interior fully involved and flames beginning to breach the roof, Conner said.

While they arrived within four minutes of the call, it was a challenge to put out because of a separate roof built above the structure, according to Fire Investigator Derrick Paul.

Members of Lewis County Fire Districts 6 and 5 assisted in battling the blaze.

The family had been gone for a few hours and returned home to see smoke, Paul said. They tried to open a door to get inside to rescue their pets, but were unable to do so because of the heat and smoke, he said.

Bonnie Vance raised her family at the home across from the ball field. Her 11-year-old grandson lived with her, and her grown son resided in a trailer parked on the property. It was not damaged, according to Conner.

Until March 7, another grown son Terry Vance and his 25-year-old son resided there as well. That’s when deputies called to the mobile home found the father dead from multiple knife wounds and arrested Joshua Vance for murder.

Joshua Vance remains in the Lewis County Jail, awaiting an October trial.

Conner said four dogs and a cat perished in yesterday’s fire.

The Red Cross was summoned to help the family with clothing and a place to stay, he said.

Investigator Paul said he narrowed the origin of the blaze to a hallway and is returning today to look at all the possible heat sources.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Centralia man accused of torture and rape in the death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter was scheduled to make his plea in court today, but at the last minute his lawyer asked for a postponement.

James M. Reeder

Centralia attorney David Arcuri did not say why, when he and his client James M. Reeder appeared in Lewis County Superior Court this morning.

Arcuri told the judge that based on his interaction with Reeder “just now”, he wanted to request the hearing be set over one week.

“And because the defense may have other requests,” Arcuri said.

Reeder, 25, is charged with homicide by abuse and related charges, including possession of methamphetamine, following the May 24 death in Centralia of Koralynn Fister.

The toddler was pronounced dead at the hospital after he carried her to a home across the street, saying he stepped out from her bath briefly and returned to find her face down in the tub. Authorities said they found numerous injuries, including signs of rape.

Koralynn Fister

Reeder remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $5 million bail.

Elected Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer, who is handling the case for his office, asked the judge to sign an order allowing the child’s body to be released from the coroner.

Arcuri would only say after the brief hearing there are some important tasks an attorney needs to do before an arraignment can place.

For example, making sure the client understands the charges and is competent to stand trial, Arcuri said, noting those were only generic examples.

Arcuri is a court appointed attorney; he said Reeder has been unemployed for the past year.

Judge James Lawler agreed they would return to the courtroom next Thursday morning for arraignment and setting a trial date.

•••

For background, read “Father of Centralia toddler who died speaks out” from Saturday June 2, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An attorney representing the family of a 33-year-old Napavine man fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy last year filed a claim for as much as $10 million saying despite the fact backup was mere seconds away, the deputy made a reckless decision to engage in an unnecessary confrontation.

Steven V. Petersen

“Steven V. Petersen was unarmed, standing in the middle of an intersection when he was gunned down by Lewis County Sheriff’s Officer Matthew McKnight,” Tacoma lawyer John R. Connelly Jr. wrote. “McKnight’s ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ approach to law enforcement that night, had devastating consequences for the decedent and his family.”

Connelly called it a clear cut civil rights case, noting his intent to file a complaint in federal court.

It happened on June 20 in Napavine, when police and deputies responded to an approximately 2 a.m. call that Petersen left stab holes in the door of his ex-girlfriend’s mobile home while trying to get inside and then left on foot.

Deputy McKnight found Petersen a few blocks away, and after Petersen refused to take his hand out of his pocket and began to charge McKnight, the deputy fired four shots, according to the account given by local authorities. The dead man had no knife.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer concluded McKnight’s use of deadly force was justified, based on an investigation conducted by outside law enforcement officers. McKnight was also cleared by an internal review at the sheriff’s office.

The Tacoma attorney’s tort claim against the county was rejected last week by the group that provides Lewis County with liability insurance, Washington Counties Risk Pool.

Sarah S. Mack, the attorney representing the risk pool and the county, said the deputy’s use of force was reasonable, in her May 31 denial letter to Connelly.

“Indeed, there is no doubt that Deputy McKnight made the decision to use lethal force out of an objective fear for his own safety and the safety of those around him,” Mack wrote.

The tort claim was filed with the county in early April, offering to discuss a resolution, but noting the intent was to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court at the end of a 60-day period imposed by statute.

One of the four lawyers representing the Petersen family said yesterday they intend to file within a couple of weeks.

The attorneys represent Petersen’s father, Steven O. Petersen and his 10-year-old son Lars V. Petersen. The senior Petersen and his wife now have legal guardianship of the boy. The younger Petersen’s wife died just weeks before he did.

The attorney, Julie Kays who works with Connelly, said the child struggles daily with the loss of a dad he dearly loved.

He was a good dad, she said, always there at his son’s games.

“I can tell you this, when grandpa reached out, his objective on behalf of himself, Steven and his young grandson is to make sure the truth comes out,” Kays said yesterday. “Our firm is committed to conducting a thorough investigation of this matter.”

Kays said the facts that have so far been made public are based on “the word of one officer, the one who shot and killed an unarmed man from a distance away.”

The firm, Connelly Law Offices in Tacoma, is working the case with Chehalis attorneys Dave Jones and J. Vander Stoep, of Vander Stoep, Remund, Blinks and Jones.

They’ve retained a retired King County Sheriff’s Department major crimes detective who spent the majority of 28 years investigating homicides, including officer-involved shootings, Kays said.

In the narrative in the tort claim, the Petersens’ attorney writes that back up units were each roughly 30 seconds to one minute away from McKnight’s location at the intersection of West Vine Street and Second Avenue, but McKnight did not wait for them.

West Vine Street and Second Avenue, Napavine

McKnight had turned his patrol car around and driven toward Petersen who was walking in the middle of a deserted street,” he wrote. “Steven did not run or hide.”

“Officer McKnight immediately got out of his car, stood in the “V” of the open door, pulled out his firearm and pointed it directly at Steven.

“McKnight made no request for backup, and made absolutely no effort to calmly interact with Steven.

“Instead he pointed a firearm at Steven and within less than 30 second(s) shot and killed him.”

The Petersens’ attorney claims Petersen was standing well over 20 feet away. The county’s attorney states Petersen was less than 20 feet away.

Mack, the county’s attorney, includes that when the deputy ordered Petersen to the ground, Petersen responded with something to the effect of, “It ain’t gonna happen buddy.”

“Deputy McKnight then saw Mr. Petersen’s body posture change, saw him flex his shoulders and come forward, beginning to advance on the deputy,” Mack wrote in her response.

The Petersens’ claim summarizes that it was a  confrontation with an unarmed man who posed no threat and was recklessly created by the deputy.

“Officer McKnight’s poor decision making, inexperience, lack of training and lack of sound judgement  resulted in his unlawful use of excessive force against Steven,” Connelly wrote.

McKnight, 27, had been with the sheriff’s office a little more than four years. Sheriff Steve Mansfield said at the time he was one of the younger officers they’d hired, and he thought it was McKnight’s first law enforcement job.

Kays said the people of Lewis County have a stake in law enforcement officers having proper training, proper supervision and making appropriate decision in the field when using deadly force.

“That’s what our investigation is going to focus on and review,” she said.

She just finished a trial last week in federal court in which their firm won a $1 million jury verdict in a case about excessive police force.

The case was Ostling v. the city of Bainbridge Island, and the jury found the city failed to train officers how to deal with mentally ill individuals, she said.

The county is represented by the Seattle law firm of Patterson, Buchanan, Fobes, Leitch and Kalzer.

•••
For background, read “Details emerge in Napavine officer-involved shooting” from Saturday July 2, 2011, here

Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a Ninth Street house in Chehalis. / Photo by Branden Willson

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A woman, her brother and 95-year-old mother escaped their burning house in Chehalis yesterday afternoon, a fire that might have been caused by a cigarette.

The top floor of the one and a half story home was destroyed.

Crews were called about 3:30 p.m. a residential neighborhood on Southwest Ninth Street, a block west of Market Boulevard.

Ramona Staker rested on the sidewalk across the street, holding her small dog, as firefighters pulled blackened and damaged materials out an upstairs window after the flames were extinguished.

“I’ve got awesome friends, and my God watches over me,” she said. “We’re safe.”

Staker said they had just returned from helping at a church garage sale and ordered pizza when she heard the smoke detector go off.

“I immediately went upstairs and it was already full of black smoke,” Staker said.

She didn’t remember how her dog got out, but a friend who had seen smoke and went in before firefighters arrived said Staker carried it out.

“I ran in,” Jeri Watkins said. “Her mom kept going back in to get her brother.”

Chehalis Fire Department Capt. Ted McCarty said five firefighters from Centralia, six from neighboring Lewis County Fire District 6 and he joined the crew of two on duty.

“The guys made entry and found half to a third of it (upstairs) already on fire,” McCarty said. “They got a good stop on it.”

McCarty, who is also a fire investigator said he hadn’t yet pinpointed the cause, but was told the brother had been smoking upstairs earlier, and the brother had discovered the bed burning.

Raymond Staker was treated at the scene for first and second degrees on his forearm. He said it happened when he lifted the mattress to look.

The family wouldn’t be able to stay there until repairs were made, according to McCarty. The Red Cross was contacted to assist them, he said.

“They made a great stop inside, everyone got out okay, so it’s a good day,” he said.

Ramona Staker is comforted as she watches crews remove fire damaged materials from her house.

•••

Lewis County Fire District 6, Riverside Fire Authority and the Chehalis Fire Department put out the house fire in Chehalis.

David Fister holds a photo taken on his daughter Koralynn's first birthday.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – In the weeks before 2-year-old Koralynn Fister died, her father wasn’t able to see her except for once, when he said he practically “kidnapped” his child from her mother.

David Fister and Becky Heupel lived together for about three years in Centralia, but separated around the time their little girl turned two, in early March, Fister said.

“I lost my job about nine months ago,” the 29-year-old said. “Before that, we were as happy as can be.”

The Iowa native who moved west to be with the woman he met online worked as the night closer at Subway in Centralia. Heupel stayed home and took care of Koralynn and her older sister, he said.

Koralynn Fister

“She was always a loving mom, would jump through hoops to do anything for the girls,” he said. “She never laid a finger on them.”

After the breakup up, the parents had a verbal agreement that Fister would take Koralynn every Wednesday and Thursday.

And then Heupel stopped answering his texts, he said. She had been saying Koralynn was sick, he said.

In mid-April, Fister said, he went to the home they had shared off West Oakview Street and demanded to have his daughter, he said.

At first, her mother said no, and “Kora wailed like I’d never heard,” he said. “She’d never done that before.”

Then she gave in and Fister took the toddler to his aunt and uncle’s Centralia home where he now lives to stay the night, he said.

“She was so happy to see me that day,” he said. “I just hung out and watched cartoons with her.”

He cooked her Spaghetti-O’s for dinner.

Fister never saw his only child alive again, he said.

James M. Reeder

Last week, police were called to the West Oakview Street neighborhood, where Heupel’s new boyfriend said he found Koralynn face down in the bathtub when he stepped out to grab a towel. He said her mother and older sister had left a couple hours earlier.

He had carried the unclothed child to a front porch across the street and asked neighbors for help. Koralynn was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later.

That was a week ago Thursday.

The boyfriend, 25-year-old James M. Reeder, was arrested that night after the Centralia Police Department interviewed him and Heupel. Police said she was not a suspect, although they asked Child Protective Services to take her 4-year-old into temporary custody.

Reeder was charged on Tuesday. Authorities say they found numerous injuries on the little girl, including signs of torture and rape. The coroner said she died from drowning and blunt head trauma.

As a storm of fury in the community has unleashed over the death, calling for the harshest punishment for the alleged perpetrator and even for the child’s mother to burn in hell for not protecting her young, Fister isn’t badmouthing the woman he loved.

“I will say, Becky is one of the best moms I’ve ever known,” he said.

It doesn’t add up, that she would have allowed a new boyfriend to stick around if she knew he was hurting her child, according to Fister.

“I don’t feel Becky had anything to do with anything,” he said. “I have to believe that.”

Fister called the mother of his child both naive and sharp, and a strong person. He’s only seen her a couple of times since it happened, he said.

“She came by my uncle’s house to give me a hug and tell me she’s sorry,” he said. “She said she was sorry about 10 times.”

Sorry for keeping Koralynn away from him, sorry for everything that happened, he said.

Fister said he didn’t know Heupel had a new boyfriend, except that Reeder was at the house the day he picked his daughter up.

Reeder is a friend of the father of Heupel’s 4-year-old daughter, from “back in the day,” he said.

Earlier this week, Reeder was charged not with murder, as prosecutors had initially indicated they were pursuing, but homicide by abuse.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer described the crime as repeated assaults or torture that ends in the death of a child.

It has the same maximum penalty –  life in prison – and the same standard sentencing range as first-degree murder, according to Meyer.

Reeder was also charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree child rape and possession of methamphetamine.

When police searched the house they found methamphetamine in the suspect’s dresser drawer, according to charging documents.

According to his defense attorney David Arcuri, Reeder is a lifetime Lewis County resident, who attended W.F. West High School through the 11th grade and has been unemployed for the past year.

He is being held on $5 million bail. His arraignment is set for this coming Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

Fister was joined this week by his mother, aunt, sister and cousin who flew out from Iowa.

While the first few days he said he drank rum like water, hoping for an ounce of sleep, by the end of this week, he  “just broke,” he said; throwing up from exhaustion and nerves.

Still, he took some time to share about his daughter, who he said he named in part as a play on words from a movie called Coraline.

Fister is unconventional, he likes darker things, being “Goth” and stuff, he said.

The 2009 film by the directors of “The nightmare before Christmas” is about a little girl who gets trapped in a nightmare world, he said.

The “Lynn” part of his daughter’s name is for his sister. The middle name Marie is his mother’s middle name, he said.

Koralynn was a child who was cranky when tired and loved dinosaur chicken nuggets, he said.

His daughter was a climber who get up or down from anything, he said.

“She was not afraid of heights. We called her ‘Monkey’,” he said.

A candlelight vigil held for his daughter in Washington Park last week was amazing, he said. A gathering today where a group that came together on Facebook planned to lay flowers in Heupel’s front yard wasn’t something he wanted to attend.

“I have my own grieving,” he said.

“Sometimes I can’t even find peace in my day to mourn,” he said. “It’s so overwhelming, the responsibility of it all.”

He said Heupel is having an emotional breakdown, but they have a funeral to plan, together.

For Reeder, he says: “I want him to have life. I want him to never see the light of day and hurt anybody else.”

As for the mother of his child: “I have a lot of anger towards her, but I don’t say anything bad about her.”

Fister said he has no money in his wallet right now. He opened an account at West Coast Bank, if anyone want to donate to help pay for funeral expenses, he said.

•••

For background, read “Breaking news: Mother’s boyfriend held for investigation of rape, murder of Centralia child” from Friday May 25, 2012 at 5 p.m., here