Lewis County Sirens.com

Law enforcement officers proceed to dismantle an apparent drug lab on Oxford Avenue in Centralia.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – Authorities aren’t sure who he is but he was jailed last night when police allegedly found a loaded AR15 assault rifle just inside his front door and numerous items including jars of unidentified liquids and a large pile of white powder in his Centralia home.

The man being called Joshua Paul Green was charged today with multiple crimes as law enforcement on Oxford Avenue continued to sift through an amount of chemicals so large, a contractor for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration was called upon to deal with the cleanup.

He says he’s self-employed; he grows coral.

“There’s a lot of chemicals here, a lot that don’t fit, I’m not 100 percent sure what he’s doing,” state Department of Ecologist hazard specialist Doug Stolz said.

Stolz described seeing the usual materials one would find in a methamphetamine lab, such as solvents and glass flasks, but there was also a tank of water with air blowing into it, but without fish, he said.

Green, who is listed by police as 31 years old, was in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

“The state is still not sure Joshua Green is the respondent,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg told the judge. “We’re still not sure who we’re dealing with.”

According to charging documents, he was arrested and booked earlier this month following a traffic stop in Centralia and gave his information as Jonah Andrew Farrer, 34 years old. His driving status was suspended in Alabama.

He had a loaded .45 caliber Colt pistol in his waistband, but no license to carry the firearm, according to charging documents.

This week, a Centralia officer contacted his girlfriend – who said she has two children with him – and was told his real name is Joshua Green.

An officer who checked with authorities in Alabama learned the Farrer name, birth date and social security number belonged to an individual who died in 2008.

Last night, when Centralia police went to his home to serve a protection order regarding the girlfriend, they got information from 911 dispatch the Colt 45 was stolen, and the victim in that case had five other firearms stolen.

That led to a search warrant.

Today, a pair of firefighters stood by as protection-suited officers collected materials from inside the two-story house on Oxford Avenue.

Part of the electricity had been shut off for safety and fire hoses lay ready, just in case.

On a tarp in the front yard sat gallon cans of Xylene, mason jars, five-gallon buckets and a large glass container half-filled with something brown.

Charging documents list some of the items found inside as numerous pistols, Pyrex dishes with “sludge”, a scale and a used methamphetamine pipe.

The Centralia Police Department hasn’t seen a meth lab in quite some time, according to Public Information Officer John Panco.

They asked teams from the Washington State Patrol and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department to conduct the examination, Panco said.

Personnel from the Department of Ecology had gone in first to check the air for safety.

Stolz, who had completed that task earlier in the day, said the interior was a mess, with a lot of garbage, many buckets of unidentified substances and even three triple-necked flasks – something illegal for just anyone to own.

The hazard specialist who said he’s been to more than 900 labs or partial labs in his 14 years on the job wondered if the resident was trying to make something he hadn’t seen before, or perhaps testing new “recipes”.

At least two dogs were removed from the home, according to Panco.

Next door neighbor Sharon Mitchell said the clean-shaven young man who moved in about three months earlier isn’t someone who had much company.

She didn’t know if he worked.

“Gosh, he’s a nice guy,” she said. “When I learned what happened, I was amazed.”

His girlfriend told police he travels to Seattle weekly and returns with an abundance of cash; and he gives her money to buy him guns, according to charging documents.

The last official word from police shortly before 3:30 p.m. called the find a possible drug lab.

Green was charged shortly after 4 p.m. today with manufacture of methamphetamine, possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, possession of a stolen firearm and identity theft.

Charging documents described the found materials as “consistent with a methamphetamine lab.”

Deputy Prosecutor Eisenberg asked for bail to be set at $75,000.

Defense attorney Bob Schroeter asked for $10,000.

He’s self-employed, growing coral, but hasn’t made any money from that yet, Schroeter told the judge.

“His assets for the business are not more than $1,000,” Schroeter said.

Judge Nelson Hunt set bail at $250,000.

Green – or Farrer – is scheduled for his arraignment next Thursday.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The real life drama that has played out in Lewis County for more than a decade and peaked last autumn with a coroner’s inquest into the controversial 1998 death in Toledo of former trooper Ronda Reynolds will be told on national television next month.

48 Hours Mystery, CBS’s true crime series will feature a one-hour documentary on the case on April 21 at 10 p.m., according to Reynolds’ mother Barb Thompson.

Inquest witness, 2011

Thompson, who lives in Spokane, got word today from producers of the airing date, and she promptly sent out a message sharing the news for those interested in the story.

“My daughter Ronda Reynolds died Dec. 16, 1998 and finally in October 2011 her death certificate was changed for the last time to homicide,” Thompson wrote.

Reynolds, 33, died with a bullet in her head in the home she shared with husband of less than a year, Toledo Elementary School Principal Ron Reynolds. She was found dead on the floor of a small walk-in closet, covered up by a turned-on electric blanket.

Her death was labeled a suicide and an unconvinced Thompson battled the offices of the sheriff and the coroner and then took the matter to court.

Producers from 48 Hours joined local and regional news media in October at the Lewis County courthouse when new Coroner Warren McLeod held his inquest.

The sheriff’s office admitted to some mistakes, including either the handgun being moved at the scene before photos were taken, or those photos getting lost. Jurors heard about evidence being destroyed or returned too soon.

The inquest jury ruled unanimously the manner of death was homicide and named Ron Reynolds and his son Jonathan as responsible. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer however declined to bring criminal charges. The father and son deny any involvement.

Thompson said television crews spent four days with her in November and three more days in Spokane earlier this month.

“I know they interviewed Ron and his family once, and went back and did it again a couple weeks ago,” Thompson said this evening.

The widespread attention to the case is not something Thompson expected to ever see.

There was a time when she pestered local newspaper editors to investigate her daughter’s death, and was told no, they don’t report on suicides.

In 2001, she and a good friend of her daughter’s, David Bell, took a trip down to The (Centralia) Chronicle to try once again with its new editor at the time, and succeeded.

“Way back then, we were just hoping to wake up Lewis County,” she said. “That was kind of all we were thinking about; helping people realize there was a problem.”

Thompson said she didn’t think the examination of the case would go on for almost 14 years, or turn into a book by true crime author Ann Rule, let alone a television documentary.

“I’ve got the death certificate that say homicide,” she said. “And that’s what I set out to prove.”

Thompson said she only knows about the parts that were filmed with her, and doesn’t know how the 48 Hours episode will end.

She and her 36-year-old son Freeman will likely watch the show together, just the two of them, she said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The publisher of a magazine written for jail inmates has filed a lawsuit against the Lewis County Jail saying its rejection of his publication amounts to a violation of the First Amendment.

The quarterly periodical is free.

Crime, Justice and America says it attempted to arrange delivery to the lock-up facility in Chehalis and were refused, according to its filing in federal court.

Jail Chief Kevin Hanson in his formal answer filed last week denies that his policies unconstitutionally restrict the magazine’s attempt to deliver to inmates or that his jail refused to permit the magazine into the jail.

The suit is filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

It names as defendants Hanson, Sheriff Steve Mansfield who has ultimate decision-making authority over the jail and 20 unnamed employees of the jail.

The magazine describes its target audience as inmates awaiting trial, aiming to educate and inform them about a sometimes confusing criminal justice system.

Crime, Justice and America is distributed free of charge and without a subscription or prior request so jail inmates can receive the information quickly, when they need it, according to information in the magazine’s court filing.

The defendants’ blanket ban on unsolicited publications is exaggerated, not related to a any legitimate penological interest and leaves the magazine with no viable means to communicate with its intended audience, the filed complaint states.

The publisher, Ray Hrdlicka, says it is distributed in numerous counties in Washington, Oregon, California and two other states, according to the filing.

The California-based company says it offered two methods of distribution, either a weekly delivery to be placed in small stacks in common areas or individually addressed to specific inmates but not more than 10 percent of them.

In a document filed last week on behalf of Lewis County Jail Sgt. Julie Frase, Frase states she was the person who the magazine contacted in phone calls in January and February of last year and that they offered no such thing.

Frase wrote they told her they wished to send one copy for every single inmate and they expected the jail to ensure they were individually received.

Jail Chief Hanson says they will accept the magazine, but only in limited quantities and if addressed to specific named inmates.

The inquiry came over a year ago and the jail wasn’t interested, but didn’t violate any law, according to Hanson.

“We reviewed it and due to the volume – they wanted one for every inmate – we said no thanks, we’ll pass,” Hanson said today.

The jail allows reading material inside, as long as it doesn’t jeopardize the safety and security of the facility, Hanson said. And based on the copies of the magazine he’s seen, its content wouldn’t be prohibited, he said.

The plaintiffs specifically allege violations of their rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution and under Article I, Section 5 of the Washington State Constitution.

They are asking the court for an order to stop violating their rights and damages, partly related to lost advertising, in an amount to be proven at trial.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A former Winlock-area resident taken into custody following a wild weekend police pursuit has pleaded not guilty to rendering criminal assistance and other offenses related to the aftermath of an Olympia homicide.

Trey Nicholas Jones, 20, was the passenger in a 1999 Kia Sephia that led as many as a dozen patrol vehicles through south Lewis County, as fireworks, full pop cans, duffel bags and a suitcase were tossed from the stolen car, according to authorities.

After the vehicle wrecked on Interstate 5 near Kelso, Jones allegedly admitted that he planned to help the driver – Dwight M. Bradsbery – leave the state following a homicide days earlier in an Olympia apartment, according to charging documents in the case.

He also stated he was injecting methamphetamine during the pursuit, prosecutors allege.

Jones, whose current residence is described by police as “transient”, is being held on $50,000 bail in the Thurston County Jail.

Bradsbery, also 20, is being held on charges of second-degree murder and other related offenses. His bail is set at $250,000. Police say he lives in Olympia.

The pair were arrested March 11 after the wreck.

Detectives from Olympia had been checking around Lewis County since they learned of the homicide the Friday before, according to Olympia police.

One witness lives in Lewis County, the pair had contacts in Centralia and Chehalis, and Jones’ parents live in south Lewis County, according to Olympia Police Department Lt. Jim Costa.

They had gotten information Bradsbery was in the Winlock area earlier that day and asked police there to help find them. Jones grew up in the Winlock area, according to Winlock Police Chief Terry Williams.

According to charging documents, the two were among several individuals at an apartment on Lilly Road in Olympia on the evening of March 8.

The woman who lives in the apartment contacted police early the following day and told of fleeing her home after she saw Bradsbery assault the victim from behind, charging papers state.

The woman, Ajalene Wilson, said she then contacted several other “associates” who had been inside moments before the murder, according to prosecutors.

When Jones was interviewed, he reportedly told police he went inside because he was going to lock the door and keep people out, but instead he supervised the attempted cleanup of the crime scene.

He said he watched, provided direction to others and “masterminded” the cleanup because he was the smartest one, according to prosecutors.

The man police found dead when they went to the apartment is identified as 29-year-old Nathaniel Ollis, an active duty soldier at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He is from Maine and died from multiple stab and slash wounds, according to the Thurston County Coroner.

Charging documents in the case don’t indicate a motive.

Both Bradsbery and Jones reportedly admitted stealing the car from a female friend in Olympia.

Jones is charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance and tampering with evidence.

Both men are charged with car theft, attempting to elude and related crimes.

They are scheduled to appear next in Thurston County Superior Court on April 9.

•••

Read “Read about police chase through Lewis County …” from Sunday March 11, 2012 at 6:48 p.m., here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – Centralia City Council member Bill Bates didn’t show up at court today as expected, but his lawyer came in his place, asking for a different judge and prosecutor in his client’s cat shooting case.

"Susie"

Bates, 60, is charged with killing his neighbor’s pet with a pellet gun. Bates, who is also pastor of a downtown church, has said it was an accident, he was only trying to run it out of his yard.

Centralia attorney Peter Abbarno asked a judge in Centralia Municipal Court this morning to move the case to Lewis County District Court.

“It would be a conflict, almost like prosecuting your own boss,” Abbarno said after the brief hearing. “So I think everyone in the court felt uncomfortable with that.”

The city council is responsible for hiring the city’s judge and prosecuting attorney, Abbarno said.

A substitute judge, Paul Strophy, approved the request.

Bates had been scheduled to make his plea this morning.

The Pannette family called police in late February, after Bates came knocking on their door on Ham Hill Road and confessed what he’d done. He offered to buy them a new cat.

He was subsequently charged – after a review by the city’s prosecutor – with unlawful use of an air gun and killing a pet.

Both are gross misdemeanors, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine.

The incident has sparked outrage among both those who feel it was justified because the animal was on Bates’ property being a nuisance and those believe one shouldn’t use lethal force on other people’s pets.

Dusty Pannette and her family were devastated by the loss of “Susie” who had safely roamed for all 10 years of his life on Ham Hill. They were particularly stunned as Bates had not complained to them their cat was bothering him.

Centralia has no leash law for cats.

The case will be moved to Lewis County District Court, in Chehalis and Bates will appear before a judge there on April 4, according to Abbarno.

The attorney emphasized to news reporters he thought it was an unfortunate accident.

“He didn’t try to hide this, he has no criminal history, it’s not in his nature,” Abbarno said.

Bates is serving his fourth year on the city council and is minister at Destiny Christian Center, an Assemblies of God Church, on North Tower Avenue.

•••

For background, read:

• “Minister, city council member shoots neighbor cat dead with pellet gun” from Thursday March 1, 2012, here

• “Centralia city council member charged for killing neighbor cat” from Tuesday March 6, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County coroner’s year-end report shows roughly the same number of suicides here during 2011 as the year before.

The number of homicides dropped however, from what many called an extraordinarily high number in 2010 of seven, down to four last year.

Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod

Coroner Warren McLeod after his first year in the elected office made public this week his annual report, which primarily describes his office’s purpose, mission and accomplishments.

His staff has strengthened “chain of custody” procedures, acquired a response vehicle and developed a policy and procedure manual, among other changes.

They are in the midst of becoming an accredited facility.

McLeod noted the October coroner’s inquest into the 1998 death of Ronda Reynolds in Toledo cost $35,000.

During 2011, there were 767 deaths in Lewis County, although the coroner’s office also handled two out-of-county deaths as a courtesy for Mason and Yakima counties, according to McLeod.

The vast majority of those deaths were due to natural disease processes, while 29 were accidental and three are undetermined, according to his statistics.

Nine were suicide; while the year before eight deaths in the county were suicide, according to the state Department of Health data.

No details were provided about more specifics in any of the categories.

The coroner’s office has yet to determine the cause and manner of death of three sets of remains found during last year.

McLeod said the remains are still in King County with a forensic anthropologist who specializes in figuring out those types of cases.

One of them is a partial skull found in March in a wooded area north of Mineral, determined to be Michael Lloyd Riemer, who was 36 years old when he went missing from Pierce County in 1985.

The two others remain unidentified, according to McLeod.

Skeletal remains found off the side of a logging road near Morton in April are believed to belong to a small woman between 20 and 35 years old when she died.

Authorities have said they don’t know how long ago she died, but doubted the remains had been there very long, because it was a well-used logging road.

Human remains found in September in a field on Joerk Road in Randle could possibly belong to Trisha McKenzie-Fire, 57 years old when she vanished from her home about a mile and a half away in April, but positive identification has not been made, according to authorities.

McLeod’s office operated with a budget last year of about $296,000. Forty autopsies were conducted during 2011.

His position is half-time, but he has a full time chief deputy coroner and four deputy coroners.

He currently has five individuals in training to become deputy coroners as well as four reserve (volunteer) deputies in training.

The coroner is also advertising for two or three others who live within 35 miles of Packwood so he can cut down on the mileage reimbursements paid out to deputy coroners.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Joshua Vance, the suspect in the stabbing death of his father in Onalaska and Weston G. Miller, the suspect in last week’s fatal shooting in Centralia will both be evaluated by psychiatrists from Western State Hospital before further court proceedings can take place.

The men are charged with first-degree murder in separate cases and are being held in the Lewis County Jail.

Joshua Vance

Centralia J.P. Enbody who represented both before a judge today said the requested evaluations are to find out if they are competent to stand trial and able to assist their lawyers in their defense.

“Just to make sure he understands the nature of the proceedings, in a nutshell,” Enbody said.

Vance, 25, had been off his medication for several days two weeks ago when he allegedly attacked his father Terry Vance while he was asleep in bed, according to his family. The Centralia College student was hospitalized himself for lacerations to his fingers after telling a first responder he cut them to make himself stop.

His lawyer, David Arcuri, said he made the request for reasons he wouldn’t discuss based on attorney-client confidentiality. He called it a 15-day evaluation.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said while sometimes the competency evaluations are done by Western State staff at the jail, they would make sure Vance got his conducted at the state mental hospital near Steilacoom.

Both men were on the court schedule today to make their pleas and have trial dates set. But that didn’t happen.

Vance was brought into the courtroom but taken away before his case was addressed. Miller was not brought up from the jail at all.

Centralia attorney Enbody said it wasn’t necessary for his client to be present.

Miller, 29, was arrested on Tuesday of last week after police were called to his home on B Street in Centralia and found his house guest dead of two gunshot wounds to his chest area.

Prosecutors say it was an unprovoked attack inside the out-of-work welder’s house on B Street but Miller claims 43-year-old David Carson rushed him with a knife.

Enbody said the reason for the request was because the charges are “about as serious as they get” but declined to offer a more specific reason for wondering if his client might not be competent.

Deputy Prosecutor Kjell Werner said both sides “thought it was a good idea.”

Western State has up to 90 days to complete their evaluations, according to Enbody.

However, it took almost 15 months after a Centralia woman was arrested last spring before a judge was able to get the outcome of her mental evaluation.

A court date to review the progress of the evaluation for Miller was scheduled for April 5. A similar date was set for April 12 for Vance’s case.