Lewis County Sirens.com

Gloria N. Iniguez Gonzalez sits with a Spanish-English interpreter as her companion (center) waits at their hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – For the second night in a row this week, Centralia police detective Chad Withrow pulled over a driver who failed to use their turn signal, and turned up a sizable amount of methamphetamine.

Like Tuesday when a pound and three quarters of meth was located in a vehicle pulled off Interstate 5 at the 13th Street exit in Chehalis, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Rick VanWyck arrived with his drug sniffing K-9 on Wednesday night to the parking lot at McDonald’s on Median Street.

According to court documents, Withrow and a second detective saw a vehicle approach them in the hours of darkness with only one functioning headlight. They followed and soon, it made a turn without using the blinker and was stopped for the infractions, the documents relate.

A man and a woman with a 1-year-old boy were asked to exit the vehicle.

According to VanWyck, the dog “alerted” on the trunk area and a request to the occupants to search was turned down, so Withrow secured a so-called telephonic search warrant, according to charging papers.

Discovered under the seat where the woman had been sitting, were three clear plastic bags, each containing approximately one ounce of a crystal substance that field tested positive for meth, according to the documents. Six hundred thirty-three dollars were found in a pouch behind the driver’s seat.

Both were charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.

The driver, named as Eduardo F. Morales Martinez, 37, of Shelton, in court documents, was additionally charged with first-degree criminal impersonation.

“We don’t know who he is,” Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told a judge yesterday afternoon. “He gave a couple different names that don’t check out in the state’s database.”

Meagher said he hoped to verify the man’s identity with fingerprints and asked for a no-bail hold.

Judge Joely O’Rourke set bail at $500,000, citing serious concerns about the identity issue.

Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello wrote that a more thorough check indicated Morales Martinez had prior convictions for delivery of a controlled substance and driving under the influence as well as multiple deportations and illegal entries.

Bail for the passenger, Gloria N. Iniguez Gonzalez, 38, of the Olympia area, was set at $10,000. Meagher and temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller said she has no criminal history.

Her 16-year-old son and 19-year-old brother were on hand at the brief hearing yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

Charging documents state that when the male driver was first contacted, he identified himself as Antonio Ortiz Hernandez and provided three Mexican ID cards that showed as such. One of them had a different birthdate than the other two, Masiello wrote in the affidavit regarding probable cause.

Upon further questioning and a look inside his wallet that turned up a bank card issued to Eduardo Morales, the driver said the card belonged to his son, according to the documents.

Masiello wrote that after the drugs were found and the two arrested, the driver said his true name was Eduardo Morales Martinez. His driver’s license was suspended.

The two were booked into the Lewis County Jail. Their arraignments are set for Thursday.

Hancel Zagal Alcaraz, 28, from Pasco, remains held in jail with bail set at $25,000, following his separate arrest on Tuesday night and a criminal charge filed on Wednesday in Lewis County Superior Court.

He was allegedly speeding, failing to signal lane changes and displaying no license plate or visible trip permit on northbound Interstate 5 when members of the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team pulled him over and asked him to move to the AM/PM at the 13th Street exit.

Charging documents in his case indicate Deputy VanWyck’s K-9 Axel detected controlled substances that led to a search of his vehicle.

His girlfriend handed over a brown tar substance wrapped in plastic along with two pieces of a crystal substance to detective Withrow, according to court documents.

Another detective found a coffee container that seemed heavier than it should be, reached into the coffee and located three large packages of a crystal substance, according to the documents. In total, they weighed 28.5 ounces and field tested positive as meth.

There is no indication the girlfriend was arrested.

Zagal Alcaraz allegedly told detectives the auto repair business he owns in Pasco is a front he uses to distribute controlled substances in Chehalis, Olympia, Tacoma and Everett.

He was charged the next day with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Zagal Alcaraz has no felony criminal history in the state.

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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – JNET: PACKAGES OF CRYSTAL METH HIDDEN IN COFFEE CONTAINER from Wednesday March 8, 2017, here

Crews work to extinguish fire on E Street yesterday afternoon. / Courtesy photo by Derrick Paul

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An investigator is looking for the cause of a house fire that displaced a family of four in Vader yesterday afternoon.

Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20 Assistant Chief Ruth Crear said six other fire departments joined them at the home on the 800 block of E Street.

“It’s a total loss, the house and contents,” Crear said. “There’s nothing for them to salvage.”

The one and a half story residence was home to a couple, their grown son and their 16-year-old nephew, she said.

Crews were called at 3:16 p.m. after the teen got off a school bus and noticed fire in the back, and notified the two men who were inside, unaware anything was burning, according to Fire Investigator Derrick Paul.

Crear described the initial fire as outside a bedroom, but Paul’s understanding was the main part of the fire at first was in an adjacent shed and moved into the house.

A firefighter from Toledo was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with a leg or ankle injury, according to Paul. Nobody else was injured, Crear said.

The Red Cross was contacted to assist the family, who are staying with relatives in Vader, according to Crear.

Approximately two dozen firefighters battled the blaze, which re-ignited about 2 o’clock this morning.

“We were there eight hours the first time and two and a half hours the second time,” Crear said.

Kimberly J. McPherson waits as her conditions of release documents are signed in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prosecutors have charged the driver in a fatal Christmas Eve wreck in rural Chehalis with vehicular homicide.

The passenger Thomas D. Lininger, 43, of Chehalis died at the scene of the single-car collision on state Route 508 near Forest-Napavine Road.

Four of his five children and other family members were present in the courtroom today when Kimberly J. McPherson appeared before a judge.

McPherson had been summonsed to Lewis County Superior Court. Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher requested McPherson be allowed to remain free pending trial, with a $25,000 unsecured bond.

Thomas Lininger and his children

He also asked the judge to prohibit McPherson from driving as a condition of her release.

Judge Joely O’Rourke asked if he had community safety concerns.

“I don’t want to hinder the taxpayers with medical bills or make it any more difficult with doctors,” Meagher said. “I am convinced if she doesn’t get behind the wheel of a car, everybody’s better off.”

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller told the judge her client resides locally, has been evaluated at Eugenia Center and is actively involved in treatment. She also has surgery scheduled for tomorrow in Tacoma, Tiller said.

McPherson, 51, used crutches this afternoon and wore a slipper-type shoe on her left foot.

Prosecutors allege McPherson was under the influence of a drug or drugs the night of the accident.

Lininger’s sisters said the couple had just left a family dinner when it happened. Troopers and aid called about 8:40 p.m. on Dec. 24 found the two trapped inside the Honda Accord

“The investigation led the patrol to conclude the defendant drove straight off the road, through a grassy patch, striking a tree,” Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer wrote in charging documents. “There was no indication of any attempt to break (sp) or swerve to avoid the collision.”

Lininger died at the scene from head trauma, according to Meyer.

A trooper contacted McPherson at the hospital and a breath sample provided indicated she was not under the influence of alcohol, but she admitted to using controlled substances earlier in the day, according to Meyer.

Both methamphetamine and heroin were allegedly found in the car, and some meth inside McPherson’s purse, Meyer wrote. She is also charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of heroin.

Charging documents state the results of a blood test reveal the presence of meth, opiates and morphine, though the opiate-morphine result may have been from drugs administered at the hospital, according to Meyer.

Centralia attorney Don Blair was appointed to represent her. She has a conviction for second-degree robbery and a controlled substance violation from 1996, according to Meagher.

Judge O’Rourke ordered standard conditions of release and added further restrictions.

McPherson may not go within 30 feet of any bar or tavern, may not get behind the wheel of any vehicle, even a bicycle, O’Rourke said.

“I’m also adding you may not be outside your residence past 10 o’clock in the evening,” O’Rourke said. “Do you understand that?”

Troopers reported McPherson is a Centralia resident, but prosecutors show a Tenino post office box as her mailing address.

Lininger’s two sisters said outside the courtroom they felt satisfied with what they heard and understood it’s a slow process, but would rather authorities take the time and get it right.

Their brother’s death would have been less difficult if it hadn’t have been preventable, they said.

Vehicular homicide has a maximum penalty of life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.  McPherson’s arraignment is scheduled for March 16.
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For background, read “Christmas Eve crash claims a life, south of Chehalis” from Sunday December 25, 2016, here

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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A judge has dismissed a charge of second-degree rape of a child against a Chehalis man in a case in which a 13-year-old girl told police she was taken advantage of by three males at a Centralia party when she was so drunk she could not walk.

Geffrey A. Duncan, 22, was charged in September in Lewis County Superior Court in connection with the events reported in 2012. He pleaded not guilty.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm said she’s been unable to contact the alleged victim. The state’s motion to dismiss Duncan’s case without prejudice was granted yesterday, she said.

The allegations were investigated in May of 2012, and forensic evidence collected, but the girl only knew the first names of two of the individuals, according to court documents. An interview with a new witness led to two arrests last year.

Tyler M. McKee, 22, formerly of Chehalis, entered into a plea deal in November and was sentenced to 41 months in prison for two counts of second-degree child molestation.

Prosecutors alleged in charging documents that McKee’s DNA profile matched material collected from the girl’s pants. Duncan’s DNA was excluded from the sample found on the garment, according to prosecutors.

Dismissed without prejudice means the state can file the charge again later, Bohm said.

Two other sexual assault cases from late last year ended the same way in recent days in Lewis County Superior Court.

Bohm said the requests came about after further interviewing of the alleged victims and review of the files and deciding the cases could not go forward.

On Monday, a charge of second-degree rape was dismissed for Juvencio E. Ayala Rodriguez, a 23-year-old Centralia resident. He was charged in November following an investigation that began in April when a 16-year-old girl reported he forced himself on her a few nights earlier when she and a friend met two guys at Schaeffer Park.

Last week, on Thursday, a charge of second-degree rape was dismissed for 19-year-old Santiago L. Fernando of Chehalis. He too was charged in November following an investigation that began with a pregnant 17-year-old girl’s mother calling the Chehalis Police Department.

Danny A. Wing at his sentencing hearing in Lewis County Superior Court in 2015.

Updated at 4:33 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The former Vader man incarcerated for his role in the abuse, neglect and death of a toddler he and his wife were caring for will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea, an appeals court has ruled.

Danny A. Wing was given nearly 35 years when he was sentenced in Lewis County Superior Court in September 2015. He had pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and third-degree child assault for the death a year earlier of 3-year-old  Jasper Henderling-Warner.

His wife entered into a similar deal with prosecutors and received a similar sentence.

Jasper Henderling-Warner

A unanimous decision of a three-member panel of the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II issued on Tuesday concluded Wing’s plea was premised on an incorrect offender score for the third degree assault of a child conviction, rendering the plea involuntary.

His offender score was improperly calculated at six rather than five, an error the state conceded, and therefore resulted in applying the wrong standard sentencing range, the appeals court wrote. An offender score is related to a person’s previous felony convictions.

For the assault, the range ought to have been 17 to 22 months instead of 22 to 29 months, according to the decision.

Wing was given 416 months for the manslaughter and the two sentences were ordered to be served concurrently. The state argued the error did not determine Wing’s ultimate sentence.

A plea agreement must be treated as “indivisible” and an error on one count means the entire agreement must be set aside, Justice P.J. Worswick wrote.

The family, from the Vancouver area, had  been living in the Vader house about two weeks when the Wings called 911 to say the toddler was unconscious and not breathing on on Oct. 5, 2014. Jasper’s 21-year-old mother had given the couple temporary custody while she was homeless and looked for work out of state.

The autopsy found abrasions, bruises, facial trauma and healing fractures and labeled the cause of death as chronic battered child syndrome. Jasper was suffering from skin infections that were found to be secondary to his cause of death.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt called it an incredible story of horror and suffering inflicted.

Wing, now 28, appealed his sentence based also on another issue, claiming prosecutors breached the plea agreement.

His appeal lawyer Lisa Elizabeth Tabbut argued the agreement permitted the state to argue for sentencing enhancements but not to file aggravating factors, but the appeals judges disagreed with the distinction.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh argued the appeal case for the state.

It’s not clear exactly what happens next.

“We don’t know, that’s the long and the short of it,” Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said today.

Wing may petition the state Supreme Court to review the part of the appeal decision he lost, Meyer said. If he doesn’t or even if he does and fails, the case will be back in Lewis County Superior Court, he said.

“Then he gets to choose whether he wants to withdraw his guilty plea or not,” Meyer said. “He can opt to do that and if he does, we go to trial.”

Meyer suggested if Wing were to go to trial on one of the original charges, homicide by abuse with aggravators, and lost, the potential sentence could be lengthy.

Brenda A. Wing was sentenced in January of last year to 34 years and eight months for first-degree manslaughter, third-degree child assault, two counts of witness tampering and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

She also has an appeal in the works.
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For background, read “Vader man gets 34 years for toddler death” from Friday September 25, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office requested a $25,000 arrest warrant today for woman charged with first-degree arson in connection with a Morton house fire 14 months ago.

Kristin H. Skiles, 45, was summonsed by mail to appear this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court but did not show.

Sunday December 20, 2015

The fire destroyed a two-story home on the  200 block of Third Street the morning of Dec. 20, 2015.

Prosecutors allege Skiles told a roommate she would burn the house down before the executor of the estate “or anyone gets anything.”

Nobody was injured, but three people were present, the fire chief said at the time.

According to charging documents, Skiles was being evicted because the house was going into foreclosure.

Her roommate Diana Stephens told police that when she arrived home that morning, the doors were nailed shut and Skiles was inside, sitting on the couch and made the statement about what she would do.

Skiles initially told police she’d been doing her hair and knocked an ashtray over, but in a follow up interview reportedly said she was suicidal and had once lit a small string on fire with her cigarette lighter, according to charging documents.

When she was interviewed again a month later, she said she couldn’t remember how it started but that she may have accidentally started it, the documents allege.

Fire Investigator Jay Birley concluded the origin was upstairs but the cause was undetermined. A fire investigator working on behalf of the insurance company concluded it could not have been begun the way Skiles first described based on studies that show how long it would take a discarded cigarette to ignite other materials.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead included statements gathered by the Morton Police Department from Stephens and also Mark Clevenger who was at the house that suggested the fire was intentionally set by Skiles.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told a judge this afternoon the summons had been sent to Skiles last known address in Morton and didn’t come back in the return mail.

First-degree arson has a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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For background, read “News brief: Flames, water claim Morton house” from Monday December 21, 2015, here

Mossyrock Dam on the Cowlitz River sits at the west end of Riffe Lake. / Courtesy photo by Tacoma Power

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Recently revised earthquake predictions, which portend failure of the spillway gates of the Mossyrock Dam have prompted the the dam’s owner to begin considering seismic retrofits.

In the meantime, Tacoma Power plans to keep less water in the reservoir which is Riffe Lake to reduce the amount of downstream flooding if a big one should strike.

Tacoma Power announced this week the changes it is implementing.

They want to keep the level of Riffe Lake 30 feet lower than normal, according to Chris Gleason, the community and media services manager for Tacoma Public Utilities.

The United States Geological Survey recently revised its earthquake predictions for the Cowlitz River basin, information that was passed along to the owner of the hydroelectric dam in November, according to Gleason.

Riffe Lake, more than 23 miles long, is 778.5 feet when full.

The probability of a large earthquake is low, and the issue isn’t the dam itself, according to Tacoma Power.

But, preliminary analysis concluded that specific seismic events could render the spillway gates useless, which could cause considerable downstream flooding, according to the utility.

A spillway is the part of the dam that water flows through. The four spillways are located high in the middle of the dam.

According to Gleason, they’ve submitted their plans to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which will review and accept or modify the proposal.

They are required keep the lake below 745.5 feet during December and January, so it’s currently close to their lower level proposed, and they will maintain it there for the foreseeable future, according to Gleason.

The new lower level is expected to be in place into the next decade.

Mossyrock Dam, a concrete structure completed in 1968 is the state’s tallest dam. It produces enough electricity for 78,000 homes.

No concrete arch dams have failed due to earthquakes, according to Tacoma Power.

Boating, swimming and fishing will remain possible on Riffe Lake, but access could be limited.

Two Tacoma Power-owned boat launches are anticipated to be usable during the summer, but two others will be closed. They are considering a new swim beach at Mossyrock Park.

The seismic retrofits they are beginning to consider won’t take place for years. The development and implementation of possible solutions involves substantial analysis, planning and federal approval, according to Tacoma Power.

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On the east side of the dam are the piers that hold the spillway gates in place. / Courtesy photo by Tacoma Power