Lewis County Sirens.com

Janet L. Anderson is led to the defendant’s table in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Centralia woman who drove to the police station to report she’d fatally shot her husband was brought before a judge again yesterday afternoon for arraignment.

Janet L. Anderson, 39, has been held in the Lewis County Jail since she was arrested on Saturday. She is charged with second-degree murder.

Clad in red jail garb, handcuffed and shackled at her waist, Anderson sat silently beside her court appointed lawyer.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler asked Anderson for her plea.

Her eyes were on the judge when she leaned forward slightly toward a microphone and responded, “Not guilty.”

Anderson is being held on $1 million bail.

She told police she and her spouse, 41-year-old Ty Anderson, had been arguing at their home off of West Oakview Avenue and he grabbed his gun and pointed it at her.

However, Ty Anderson’s body was located in their bedroom wrapped in a tarp, with a bullet hole in the back of his neck and another in his lower back, prosecutors allege.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh has told the court they suspect as much as 12 hours may have passed before Anderson turned herself in.

She is represented by Centralia attorney Shane O’Rourke.

O’Rourke and Beigh yesterday scheduled Anderson’s trial for the week of Feb. 13.
•••

For background, read “Centralia husband took a bullet to the base of the back of his neck, wife charged with murder” from Monday December 19, 2016, here

Defense attorney Mike Underwood, aided by an interpreter, advises a group of defendants of their rights before a hearing Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Four people were arrested yesterday when drug detectives found a north Centralia home housing an approximately $1.3 million marijuana growing operation.

Law enforcement discovered seven growing rooms, each set up in a sophisticated manner to include lights, ballasts, fans and a hydroponic watering system, according to authorities.

They counted 901 plants, each capable of producing about a pound of marijuana.

The arrestees included a 27-year-old man and his 21-year-old wife who are students as well as a 46-year-old woman and a 79-year-old woman. They said they live in Portland.

Members of the Lewis County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team began investigating the house on Susan Street in August with records from the power company that showed a high use of electricity, according to court documents.

When two of the detectives knocked on the door yesterday, Chaohui Tan, 27, answered questions and said he had a medical marijuana authorization but wouldn’t produce it, according to court documents. Because of his evasive demeanor, police decided to remove everyone to preserve any evidence, the documents relate.

Mei Lan Su, 79, was contacted in the basement trimming plants, according to the documents.

All four were booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged today with manufacture of marijuana in Lewis County Superior Court.

They spoke to a judge this afternoon in court making use of a Cantonese-Chinese interpreter.

Temporary defense attorney Mike Underwood requested court appointed lawyers for each of them.

He said they all live together in a Portland home owned by one of them, Nianhua Chen, 46, who is the only one with a job. She works in a restaurant earning about $1,600 a month, Underwood told the judge.

Manufacture of marijuana has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh began by  asking the judge to hold them on $500,000 bail. She said she was concerned about them returning to court, given the large scale of the operation and the potential for access to other assets.

The first defendant, 21-year-old Xiaohui Zhang, has no criminal history that either Beigh or Underwood were aware of. Underwood asked she be released on her personal recognizance.

Judge James Lawler set bail at $50,000 for her and then for the other three.

Information in their court documents list three of them as residing at a Portland address and the 79-year-old as living at 216 Susan Street in Centralia.

Lewis County records show the five-bedroom home in Centralia was purchased in July of this year by an individual with a San Francisco address.

Tan told detectives he purchased all the equipment himself and doesn’t have a job, according to court documents. Detectives checked and found no state license to grow marijuana had been issued for the address.

Their arraignments are all scheduled for next Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

•••

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The apartment manager charged with setting a small fire at the Centralia complex where she lived and worked was expected in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon, but didn’t show up.

Kathrin L. Turner, 44, was charged with first-degree arson and summonsed to appear before a judge this afternoon.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh requested and was granted a $10,000 bench warrant for Turner’s arrest.

One of the tenants from the apartments on the 1100 block of Scammon Creek Road however did go to court for the expected hearing.

“I just don’t get it, I don’t know why she did this,” Shellie Hernandez said. “She was supposed to be our friend.”

Hernandez, 52, has lived in the building almost three years and has a caregiver to help her out. It was her apartment where the fire was set on the exterior wall the morning of Nov. 3, she said.

She wants Turner locked up.

“I fear for my life, I was there for the fire,” she said. “It was so scary.”

Turner is charged only with one count of arson, but the complex saw police and firefighters respond three times in a matter of days at the beginning of last month.

On the morning of Nov. 2, someone lit a paper towel on fire next to a building. A tenant put it out with a glass of water, according to police reports.

The next morning, the fire department was called when a fire broke out within a corridor of the same building, damaging an approximately 15 square foot area of exterior siding. Turner told responders she put it out with a fire extinguisher.

That weekend, Turner was found in the bathroom of a common area of the complex with severe lacerations to her wrists and throat. A box cutter was found after medics took her away, which a Centralia police officer surmised must have been beneath her on the floor.

Eventually police concluded it was a suicide attempt.

Police reports on the incidents state a cleaning wipes container which smelled of gasoline was found in a dumpster at the complex, and officers learned Turner was seen at a gas station getting fuel in a little red can early in the morning before the first fire, and she was seen taking a gas can from the trunk of her car and giving it to the  landscape crew after the second fire.

As police investigated, they learned from a regional manager of the apartments that oddities and discrepancies in the bookkeeping were found. Turner was behind in depositing rent payments and money was possibly missing, Julie Ryan told police, according to one of the reports. Ryan said Turner was trying to move people into apartments that were occupied and that empty units were listed as filled, according to one report.

“She said this wasn’t like Turner to be off on this many rents,” detective Sgt. Carl Buster wrote.

It was more than a week later when detectives were able to speak with Turner, still hospitalized.

At first, Turner had said she was attacked by a stranger.

Detective Panco wrote that after initially denying involvement, Turner confessed. She said it was because she was “so overwhelmed” and the fires were part of the reason she hurt herself, he wrote.

She gave Panco this reason for the fires: She allegedly said she was trying to evict Hernandez from her unit but she wouldn’t leave. She said she’d promised that apartment to someone else, according to charging documents.

“So Turner thought maybe Shellie would move if there was a fire because that would scare Shellie,” Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead wrote.

Her husband Kenneth Turner was interviewed at the hospital while his wife was being treated, before she was transferred to  Tacoma General Hospital.

He told the officer she had been acting odd, talking about a strange black man with a black hat that she kept seeing and was making her nervous, for about the previous two weeks, according to one police report.

When asked if she had ever done anything like this before, he told the officer yes, a few years back when she was overstressed and “basically had a nervous breakdown.”

Kenneth Turner said the things stressing her currently were the arsons, the black man following her and that they were very behind on their bills, unable to pay surgery, hospital and utility bills, Officer Phil Weismiller wrote.

Other parts of the police reports note medical staff telling police of a history of an undiagnosed mental issue and newly discovered blood clots which could have decreased oxygen to her brain and explained bizarre behavior.

First-degree arson is a class A felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

After today’s court hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Beigh said she learned Turner was in the hospital, so she was planning to get the arrest warrant rescinded and send a summons for her to appear at a later date.
•••

For background, read “News brief: Apartment arsons blamed on employee” from Tuesday November 15, 2016, here

The Packwood Fire Department works this morning at a residential structure fire. / Courtesy photo by Derrick Paul

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A fire investigator is emphasizing the importance of working smoke detectors after a house fire this morning with a fatality in Packwood.

Smoke detectors save lives, Fire Investigator Derrick Paul wrote in all capital letters in a message today.

Paul was called out this morning to the single-family home on the 12900 block of U.S. Highway 12. The Packwood Fire Department responded to the approximately 5:20 a.m. call and found the residence fully engulfed in flames.

When Paul arrived, the blaze was knocked down for the most part, he said. The double-wide modular home is behind the Chevron gas station, he said.

“It’s a complete loss, there’s not a lot left,” he said.

One person was found dead inside, according to Paul.

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office was requested, and a sheriff’s detective joined the fire investigator to assist in processing the scene.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says the 57-year-old man who lives there could not be accounted for and while the identity of the deceased has not been established, they believe it is him.

The cause isn’t yet known, but Paul said he had a couple of leads he was following.

No smoke detectors were found at the home, according to Paul.
•••

For background, read “News brief: Packwood home catches fire” from Tuesday December 20, 2016, here

Janet L. Anderson, in red, is led out of the courtroom and back down to the Lewis County Jail after bail hearing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Evidence so far suggests a 41-year-old Centralia man was shot once in his back and once at the base of his skull as long as 12 hours before his wife turned herself in to police and said they would find his body in the bedroom of their north Centralia home.

Ty W. Anderson was indeed located there, wrapped inside a tarp, according to authorities.

The residence off of West Oakview Avenue in the Hunter’s Walk neighborhood was then examined by detectives on Saturday but the scene investigation is ongoing, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Janet L. Anderson, 39, was arrested after she spoke with police on Saturday morning and charged today with second-degree murder.

She reportedly told police that after two hours of fighting, she shot her husband because he grabbed his gun and was pointing it at her, according to charging documents.

She also said she cleaned him up, covered him up and wrapped him up so he wouldn’t be cold, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead wrote in court documents.

Evidence indicates she washed clothing and bedding and bathed herself as well as patched what looked to be a bullet exit hole through an exterior wall, before driving to the Centralia police station and calling 911 about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to Halstead.

Anderson was brought before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis where prosecutors asked she be held on $1 million bail.

She has no income of her own, doesn’t work and has no criminal history, the judge was told. Judge Richard Brosey gave her a court appointed lawyer.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said she requested the high bail because Anderson might be a flight risk and also because of the interference with the administration of justice. It appears cleanup was done during the 12 hours between the alleged homicide and the reporting of it, she said.

Neither Centralia police nor the court documents offer any other explanation for the shooting.

Neighbors and police say the couple have two children who lived with them there, a teenage son who was at a sporting event on Saturday morning and a younger daughter who was with her grandparents. Centralia police detective John Panco on Saturday didn’t indicate he thought the kids had been home when it happened.

Next door neighbor Jim Murphy said he and his wife heard a “horrible bang pop” around 9 or 10 o’clock on Friday night; she thought it was a gunshot, he thought it was something different.

Charging documents state that police were advised about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, a woman was on the line with 911, saying she’d killed her husband, that she would be parked in front of the Centralia Police Department in a white mini van.

She spoke with a sergeant and told him, among other things, that her gun was on her night stand and her husband’s gun could be found under a towel because she was afraid her son might come home and see it.

Two officers who were given the keys to the home found nobody else inside, only Ty Anderson wrapped in a tarp in the bedroom, according to the documents.

When detectives conducted their investigation, they found what would be the wife’s firearm, a five-shot revolver with four spent shell casings and one live round inside the cylinder, Halstead wrote.

The other gun was on the floor, on the other side of the bed, partially wrapped in a towel, according to Halstead. The semi automatic, single-action pistol had a loaded magazine inserted and an empty chamber; the hammer was in the forward position not ready to fire, according to Halstead.

An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.

The initial examination of the body however showed at least two bullet entry wounds, according to charging documents, one in the lower back and the other at the base of the back of the neck. X-rays taken by the Lewis County Corner’s Office show what appear to be the two bullets lodged inside his body, according to charging documents.

The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine plus restitution and assessments.

Centralia defense attorney Shane O’Rourke is going to be representing Anderson. Her arraignment is set for Thursday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.
•••

For background, read “Saturday December 17, 2016” from Centralia: Man dead, woman jailed for murder, here

Police assemble at the scene of a homicide in the Hunter’s Walk neighborhood today.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police are investigating a homicide at a home in a north Centralia neighborhood and have detained a suspect.

Officers were notified about 8:30 a.m. today.

“The suspect contacted us at the police station, she called 911 and said she needed to talk with someone,” detective John Panco said.

Officers went to her residence off of West Oakview Avenue and confirmed a man inside was dead, according to Panco.

The woman was interviewed and taken to the Lewis County Jail, Panco said.

Early information from the Centralia Police Department indicated it was a death by gunshot, but detectives are still processing the crime scene this afternoon.

Panco didn’t reveal what the woman told investigators. He didn’t release any names this afternoon.

Across the street neighbor Will Fitzmorris said he woke up this morning to see yellow police tape across the front of the house, and a patrol car parked in front.

A man, a woman and two children moved in there in recent years, he said.

Next door neighbor Jim Murphy knows the family a little.

“She is the nicest person and they have swell kids,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he and his wife heard a noise while they were rearranging furniture around 9 or 10 o’clock last night. His wife asked him if it sounded like a gunshot, he said.

“I said no, it sounded like something, somebody slammed real hard,” he said.

The pale yellow modular home is in a neighborhood called Hunter’s Walk.

This afternoon, the Centralia Police Department’s crime scene van is parked on the narrow street. Detectives were inside collecting evidence and getting photographs, according to Panco.

“I can’t give you much information as far as how it happened, what happened,” Panco said.

He didn’t yet know what the woman would be booked for, but expected he would have more details to release before the end of the day.

The Lewis County Jail’s online roster indicates a Janet L. Anderson was booked around 11:45 a.m. today for second-degree murder.

Update: Panco acknowledged in a news release at about 11 p.m. that Anderson, 39 years old, was their suspect.

Police tape is stretched across the front of Centralia home where police are investigating homicide.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities are still trying to track down next-of-kin for the homeless man who died outdoors in freezing temperatures this week, but want in the meantime to share some information to allay fears of those who have family members living on the streets.

He was 57 years old and has been residing in the Centralia area for perhaps a year and half, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said this morning. He has also spent time in Aberdeen, he said.

McLeod wants to find and notify his relatives of the death, before releasing the man’s name to the public.

“I’ve gotten calls from three families who have people on the streets,” McLeod said. “It causes a lot of stress for people who have family in that situation.”

Authorities initially revealed very little after he was found dead on Wednesday morning in Centralia’s Rotary Riverside Park off Harrison Avenue. An autopsy confirmed he died of hypothermia from the cold.

Centralia Police Department detective Corey Butcher said he was discovered at one of the covered picnic areas, with all of his belongings, sleeping bag, backpack, food and such.

It’s a sad thing, McLeod said.

“In 2016, in the U.S., one of the most developed countries in the world, that you can curl up and go to sleep and die,” McLeod said.

Temperatures were at 32 degrees in the Twin Cities for most of that night.

McLeod said the dead man’s information lists him as 6-feet tall and 215 pounds. A recent jail booking photo shows him with long black hair, somewhat balding in front and with graying facial hair, he said.

No missing person reports have been found for him, but a check with a nationwide law enforcement database shows he’s had contacts with police in several states, McLeod said.

Those places include, Illinois, Las Vegas, Arizona, Florida and southern California, according to McLeod.
•••

For background, read “News brief: Man without a home basically froze to death” from Thursday December 15, 2016, here