Lewis County Sirens.com

Deborah Sue Knapp sits with her defense attorney Ken Johnson as she is sentenced for theft.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Judge Richard Brosey blasted board members of the Lewis County Historical Museum today when he sentenced its now-former executive director for stealing possibly more than $200,000 during her time at the helm.

The theft was brought to light after revelations the non-profit’s endowment fund of more than $460,000 was gone.

Both the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney in the case deny Deborah Sue Knapp took all of it, Brosey said. Both say the museum simply lived beyond its means.

“The endowment apparently was used as a piggy bank,” Brosey said.

Being on a board is not just a ceremonial job where members can attend meetings once in awhile and nod in agreement, it comes with responsibilities, Brosey told a nearly packed courtroom this afternoon.

“I’m going to impose punishment to Mrs. Knapp for what she did,” Brosey said. “But the board of directors has to take an active role. You can’t just sit there and do nothing.”

The Lewis County Superior Court judge said he was personally offended that the heritage of Lewis County was abused, noting how difficult it is to build endowment funds, and how this scandal will make it even harder.

The endowment was in an account meant to be left untouched, so it could generate interest which could be used for operating costs.

“It’s egregious its depleted,” Brosey said.

Knapp was arrested at the end of 2011, five and a half years after she was hired to run the institution that inhabits a former rail station on Northwest Front Way in Chehalis.

After months of trial preparations and negotiations, the now-53-year-old agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentencing recommendation. The hope was she could do about 12 months of jail time on work release, if she could find a job.

That didn’t work out.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead and defense attorney Ken Johnson’s back up plan was to ask the judge to give her one year plus one day, so she could serve her time in state prison instead of in a county jail.

State prison was at Knapp’s request, in part because it’s better equipped to deal with her ill health, according to her attorney.

The top of the legislatively mandated standard range for the crimes to which she pleaded guilty is 14 months.

Judge Brosey today imposed 14 months and ordered her immediately into custody.

Knapp was taken away in handcuffs, although she had hoped not to check into the jail until the evening before transport to prison, because of issues regarding bringing her heart medication into the jail.

Prosecutors alleged Knapp basically doubled her salary for a period of time, by obtaining “draws” that weren’t subsequently accounted for, writing her own payroll draw checks without anyone else’s knowledge and many times listing them in the check register as voided. She used the museum’s debit card to pay personal expenses, in an amount the two sides don’t agree upon.

Halstead had told the court he believed he could prove she took in excess of $124,000 and said it appeared she took more than $200,000, but that wasn’t provable.

“Reports that over $400,000 was taken by Mrs. Knapp, that’s just not true” Halstead told the court.

He said he knew the deal would make outsiders on both sides unhappy, but he wanted both for her to do time and be able to pay restitution.

Knapp’s attorney told the court his client has already paid $20,000 in restitution, money she borrowed from a relative.

“Mrs. Knapp is ashamed and embarrassed to be in this position,” Johnson said. “She would like to apologize to the entire community.”

He took a moment as well to share his view of the museum’s books, noting it operated without a budget or accountability.

“The endowment was used routinely to balance things out, they were living beyond their means,” Johnson said. “Anyone who’s attempted to blame Mrs. Knapp for that in total is simply mistaken.”

The final deal saw Knapp pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree theft.

Knapp herself addressed the judge only briefly. She said she appreciated the judge’s consideration and she was sorry.

Edward Fund spoke to the court as a member of the museum who has been involved in fundraising over the years.

“I just want people to actually learn from this,” he said.

His wife, former museum board member and newly elected Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund, focused on the betrayal, sharing examples of how she felt Knapp manipulated her and others.

“I didn’t know she would go from a very good friend to someone who would exhaust the museum fund,” Fund said.

The museum’s current board of directors is said to contain both old and new members.
•••

For background, read:

• “Knapp confesses she stole money from Chehalis museum as its director” from Wednesday March 13, 2013, here

Response at Centerville Western Store on Lum Road / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority

Updated at 6:12 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Three fires broke out within less than an hour overnight in Centralia, causing damage at two church buildings and a third at the Outlet Mall.

They are under investigation.

It began about 3:20 a.m. when a female showed up at the front door of the downtown fire station and said she thought there was a fire next to the Centralia Church of the Nazarene on the 1200 block of West First Street, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Tim Adolphsen.

At 3:35 a.m. crews were called to the Centerville store off Lum Road, he said.

And just after 4 a.m., they were notified of another at a church on the 2500 block of Seward Avenue, he said.

Nobody was injured, he said.

Investigators have concluded already the last fire, at Calvary Chapel in north Centralia, was from an electrical issue, but the other two are arson, Chief Jim Walkowski said.

Fire investigators and police going to have a busy day, he said.

“We’re trying to find people who may have wanted to do harm to these buildings,” Walkowski said.

The most seriously damaged was the house just west of the Nazarene Church, which is used for youth activities, according to firefighters. The bulk of the fire was in its garage area however, Walkowski said.

He estimated the loss to as much as $50,000.

“That has been deemed a set fire, that’s an arson,” Walkowski said. “From where it started and the burn patterns, it was definitely a set fire, not an accident.”

The chief said he was just arriving at the scene when they were informed of an alarm activation at Centerville, the western store at the north end of the Centralia Outlets, so he headed that way instead.

Flames there originated in a hot water tank enclosure attached to the east end of the structure, he said.

“We were able to get inside quick enough so they will be open for business today,” Walkowski said.

The chief is asking residents who may have surveillance cameras to take a look at their footage to see if they show any vehicles or even people walking down the streets. And to please call him at 736-3975 or the police department if they find anything.

“We’ve solved lots of fires with these,” Walkowski said.

Four other fire departments, from Rochester to Napavine, assisted, he said.

The fire damage at the church on Seward Avenue was minimal, although it sustained some smoke and water damage, according to Walkowski.

By 10:30 a.m., crews learned of an attempt to burn yet another building, Cooks Hill Community Church on the 2400 block of Cooks Hill Road. They don’t know when it occurred, because it failed.

“One of the workers walked outside and found the side of the church had scorch marks,” Walkowski said.

The chief said they are asking folks to be hyper vigilant, and be sure to move any combustible materials away from the exterior of their homes or buildings.

A fire earlier in the night at the north end of Chehalis remains under investigation as well, he said.

Crews were called about 1 a.m. to the Firehouse Espresso stand on the 2300 block of Kresky Avenue. Flames were found on the backside, which were quickly knocked down, according to Chehalis Fire Department Firefighter-Investigator Jay Birley.

Birley said they had a garbage can behind the structure, and he’s suspicious about cigarette butts.

“It’s looking toward accidental, but I won’t know more till later today,” Birley said.

He’s described the damage to the coffee stand as moderate.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police found stolen guns, signs of gang activity and more than a “personal use” amount of suspected methamphetamine when they searched a Logan district house yesterday as they investigated the stick up of a motorist who said she got lost on Centralia streets the night before.

Two people have been arrested for the robbery that occurred about 12:15 a.m. Tuesday at the 100 block of Harrison Avenue.

Centralia Police Department detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said the Olympia area woman told officers she came to town to help someone move, got lost and pulled into a church parking lot to use her cell phone.

A male appeared of out nowhere and stole her purse and phone at gunpoint, Fitzgerald said. She was reportedly unhurt.

The thief was described as a white male with a distinctive tattoo on his neck wearing jeans and a dark hoodie, according to police. Police were told he fled to a red or maroon sedan which was driven away by a blond female, according to police.

Officers searched the area and eventually located a similar car parked outside a residence on the 1500 block of Delaware, according to Fitzgerald.

Two of the individuals who live or were staying there were arrested. Anthony F. Johnson, 28, from Morton, for first-degree robbery and  Kaylie J. Longmire, 18, of Centralia, for being an accessory to robbery, according to the Centralia Police Department.

A patrol sergeant separately indicated that a 25-year-old Centralia man, David J. Eslick, was arrested just after midnight today, in connection with the robbery as well as for allegedly breaking into the concession stand at the high school football stadium earlier in the night.

Fitzgerald said today detectives were investigating a possible link and believed the participants in the purse theft drove Eslick to the stadium.

Yesterday, a police sergeant said the Olympia woman knew the robbers and was meeting them, but Fitzgerald said that’s not information he was given.

“There may be all kinds of stuff that comes out of this, cause we’re not finished yet,” Fitzgerald said.

During the search of the house, detectives found three stolen firearms, one of which its owner didn’t yet know was missing, according to Fitzgerald.

They also discovered photographs and graffiti in the house that was evidence of gang activity; mostly the so-called Tiny Dukes and some that could be Crips or Surenos connected, he said.

Also found were unspecified items police believe have been stolen in local burglaries as well as the Olympia woman’s purse, according to police.

Updated at 1:25 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Onalaska man imprisoned after he fatally shot a suspected burglar outside his house three years ago has lost his appeal.

A panel of three judges upheld the manslaughter conviction of Ronald A. Brady in their opinion filed yesterday.

Brady, 60, was sentenced to just over five years for the death of 56-year-old Thomas McKenzie of Morton.

Through his attorney, Brady appealed on several grounds, including his contention the court erred when it refused to give his proposed jury instruction on the right to resist a felony.

Brady’s attorney argued self defense in the summer 2011 trial in Lewis County Superior Court and Brady avoided a first-degree murder conviction, but the jury found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter. He was acquitted of an assault charge upon McKenzie’s wife, Joanna McKenzie.

Brady admitted shooting at the pair outside his house he was renovating on the 2100 block of state Route 508, describing to deputies opening his garage door and finding flashlights shined in his face. He also testified he was firing at the truck to keep it from leaving.

He told sheriff’s detectives he was staying overnight at the unoccupied house in case burglars from earlier in the day returned. Brady resided in a nearby rental home.

The Washington State Court of Appeals stated the facts of the case did not support such an instruction, as any felony that may have been committed did not pose an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm to Brady.

The only crime being committed at the time he opened fire with a .22 rifle was criminal trespass, the judge’s stated.

Among the judges’ references was a 1955 case and decision saying that a homicide committed while resisting the commission of a felony is not justified “unless the attack on the defendant’s person threatens life or great bodily harm.”

The decision was authored by Judge Christine Quinn-Brintnall, with Judge Thomas R. Borgen and Judge Jill M. Morgan concurring.

•••

For background, read “Breaking news: Onalaska murder trial: Guilty of second-degree manslaughter” from Friday June 24, 2011, here

Read the decision

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The case of the Dryad woman whose numerous foxhounds were seized from a living area overrun with feces last fall has been settled with a plea agreement and a sentence handed down by a judge, but dissatisfied  prosecutors are now asking another judge for a stiffer penalty.

Nancy Punches, now 80 years old, made a so-called Alford plea in which she admitted no wrongdoing but pleaded guilty to 10 counts of second-degree animal cruelty.

Punches’ dog kennel Oct. 19, 2012

Lewis County District Court Judge Michael Roewe gave Punches a 364 day jail sentence but then suspended it for two years, providing she abides by certain conditions.

According to court documents, Roewe said that during the 24 months while her sentence is suspended she may own up to two animals, which must be spayed or neutered, and she may not engage in any animal selling, dealing, breeding or related commercial activity.

Punches was also ordered to pay more than $19,000 in fines, fees and restitution; not suspended.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Nelson hoped the restrictions would last longer.

When county employees and volunteers descended upon Punches’ River Road property last Oct. 19, a deputy said he could not see the floor of some kennels because the water, mud and feces was so deep. One puppy was found dead and others were sick.

Her 65 dogs were confiscated, including three which survived the December 2007 flood with her.

Punches, who works in a hospital lab in Morton, started showing dogs in 1960 and has been breeding them for decades.

At the time, and at her sentencing on Jan. 25, Punches said she didn’t intend for the animals to multiply, but her fencing had deteriorated; she was in the process of cleaning up and finding homes for some and then the rains came “everything broke loose.”

The judge’s decision was largely in keeping with the agreement made between Nelson and Punches’ attorney, Bart Ricks, according to court documents.

However, according to the documents, the recommendation to the judge was the animal prohibitions be kept in place for 20 years. Roewe told them he had no authority beyond two years, the documents state.

On the same day as sentencing, Nelson filed a motion asking Roewe to reconsider, suggesting the law indicates Punches should be permanently banned from having similar animals because she has multiple convictions for animal cruelty.

Roewe said he understood the law to mean she would be banned after getting convictions on multiple occasions.

“The whole purpose of that statute is to impose greater sanctions on people who don’t learn from their first conviction,” Roewe said. “There’s only one conviction in the court’s mind, and that conviction includes 10 counts.”

Now Nelson has filed an appeal to Lewis County Superior Court, asking it to find that Punches should be prevented permanently from owning similar – unaltered – animals.

Ricks indicated he is contesting the prosecutor’s request, and expects to file a motion within the next week.

The Chehalis attorney declined to talk further about the case.

He did say his client has no animals now, not even the two the judge allowed for.

Ricks said he expects he and Nelson will argue the issue before a Lewis County Superior Court judge when a hearing is scheduled at a future date.

•••

For background, read “Aged flood survivor loses her stock of prize-winning canines for the second time” from Sunday October 21, 2012, here

Shelbie Croft watches her helium balloons snag in a tree at the edge of Penny Playground.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Her mother, father, two little sisters, two aunts, two cousins, three girlfriends and three people who didn’t know her came together on Sunday, all for Kayla Croft-Payne, the Lewis County girl who vanished three years earlier.

Still, they have more questions than answers about what happened to the then-18-year-old.

“I talk to detective Callas two times a month, he promises she won’t become a cold case,” her father Thomas Payne told the small group.

Payne, formerly of Longview traveled from his new home north of Seattle to a vigil held at Penny Playground in Chehalis yesterday. The day marked three years since his daughter last logged on to her MySpace internet account. She was reported missing a few days later by a girlfriend who lived with her south of Chehalis.

“We won’t let her become a cold case,” her aunt, Karen Hinton said. “We need people to tell us what they know.”

Hinton has found a spark of hope for answers as she’s begun to question who was the photographer her niece met online who arranged to take pictures of her so she could create a modeling portfolio.

She found the potential clues simply by looking at Croft-Payne’s Facebook page, she said.

“Her last entries are, I’m going to a photo shoot, I can’t wait to get my portfolio done,” Hinton said.

Kayla Croft-Payne

Hinton has connected with a Vancouver, Wash.-based group called National Women’s Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation (NWCAVE). It’s president and co-founder has taken up the cause to bring media attention to the case.

Early last month, NWCAVE’s Michelle Bart contacted numerous members of the press to describe how Croft-Payne is one of three young women around the country who posted photos and information about themselves on the same modeling website and left for modeling only to never return home.

Bart is concerned certain photographers may be using the ModelMayhem website to prey upon women.

Bart says she learned Croft-Payne went missing after she went to meet with a photographer she met there. Hinton said she’s passed the information to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and a detective has promised to follow those leads.

She’s encouraged, but at the same time discouraged it wasn’t investigated previously.

“I don’t know how this was overlooked by the police for so long,” Hinton told the gathering yesterday. “It’s beyond me.”

The vigil was, as promised, informal. Bart shared with the group the need to keep Croft-Payne’s face and name in the public eye.

A moment of silence was shared when  6-year-old Shelbie Croft set free a small cluster of helium balloons for her sister into clear, but cool skies. They were caught by the branches of the first tree along the expected route.

Ashley Smith traveled from her home in Spanaway to remember her friend with others yesterday. She’s 20 years old now, but three years ago she was a 17-year-old Lewis County girl who was with Croft-Payne 24 – 7, she said.

They lived together in a trailer off Newaukum Valley Road, between Chehalis and Napavine.

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Smith said. “I don’t want to think the worst.”

She’s heard the various rumors and  doesn’t seem to give any more weight than the others. Maybe her friend was made to pay off someone’s drug debt, as in sex trafficking, she said. Maybe her friend overdosed on drugs, and someone got scared and hid her body, she said.

But Smith said the website ModelMayhem didn’t ring a bell to her, and she thought it would if her friend was using it.

“She was really into, wanted to be a model really bad,” Smith said.

Croft-Payne wasn’t headed to meet a photographer when she disappeared, Smith said.

The photo shoot was in Bellevue and it was about two weeks earlier, Smith said. The two of them were headed up there together, she said, but various circumstances, including their lack of a ride, caused it to fall through.

“The night she went missing, we were together,” Smith said.

Smith said she and Croft-Payne were at a friend’s house in Onalaska. Another friend came to pick her up, to give her a ride to her boyfriend’s, she said.

“She told me she was going to Manny’s house,” Smith said.

All of the possibilities that come to mind are unpleasant, Smith said.

“It’s hard to think of pleasant ones, given the crowd we were hanging with,” she said.

•••

Read background on Kayla Croft-Payne, here

Kayla Croft-Payne hasn’t been heard from since April 28, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A vigil will be held tomorrow afternoon in Chehalis to mark the three year anniversary of the disappearance of Lewis County teen Kayla Croft-Payne.

Family and friends will gather at 2 p.m. at Recreation Park in Chehalis. Members of the general public and families of other missing persons are welcome, according to Michelle Bart

“We just want to get the word out not to forget Kayla,” Bart said.

Croft-Payne was 18 years old and living in a trailer between Chehalis and Napavine on April 28, 2010 when she last logged onto her MySpace internet account. She was reported missing on May 5 by a friend who hadn’t seen or heard from her for several days.

When the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office investigated, detectives followed tips up into Pierce County, and down into Cowlitz County, saying the last place they could verify she was seen was a trailer park in the Toutle area.

Croft-Payne’s aunt, Karen Hinton, who lives in the Portland area, connected a few months ago with a Vancouver, Wash.-based group called National Women’s Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation (NWCAVE), and together they have pursued information about Croft-Payne meeting a photographer online as she created a modeling portfolio.

Her last postings on her Facebook account talk about how she couldn’t wait to get her portfolio done and that she was going to a photo shoot, Hinton said.

It’s a path the sheriff’s office is now beginning to examine, Hinton said.

Croft-Payne had posted a profile on a website called Model Mayhem, as did at least two other missing girls, according to Bart of NWCAVE.

Bart said the Sunday afternoon vigil will be informal, and include an update on the case.

Read background on Kayla Croft-Payne, here
•••

What: Vigil for Kayla Croft-Payne
Where: Recreation Park, Penny Playground in Chehalis, 221 SW 13th St.
When: 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday April 28, 2013