Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  A trial is set for next June in the case of 16-year-old Austin King, whose body was found off a logging road some 10 miles away from his Morton area home over the summer.

Austin King

An acquaintance, Jack Arnold Silverthorne, 20, of Renton, is charged with first-degree murder and remains held on $2 million bail.

The teenager vanished from his family’s home in the Tilton River Mobile Home Park early on June 23 and was the subject of a month-long search headed up by volunteers. His body was found July 20 with a skull crack above his right ear.

Silverthorne appeared briefly in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis today with his attorney, J.P. Enbody. His trial was scheduled for the week of June 6.

Jack A. Silverthorne

Authorities believe Silverthorne took Austin up into the woods after a birthday party at Austin’s home and say cigarette butts found near the body and Silverthorne’s broken hand are among the evidence that ties him to the slaying.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher says Austin died from blunt force to his head, however, the Lewis County Coroner’s Office still refuses to release the cause of death publicly.

The teenager’s remains have not yet been released for burial.

Meagher said today he hasn’t given to coroner’s office the go ahead to release them as the defense may want to have an expert examine the remains.
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• News brief: Morton homicide suspect pleads not guilty” from Thursday Nov. 18, 2010

Read more about the case in “Morton homicide: Suspect had broken hand, victim had cracked skull” from Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010 by clicking here

• “Breaking news: Renton man, 20, arrested for murder in death of Austin King” from Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010

• “Breaking news: Morton teenager died by homicide, coroner’s office says” from Friday Oct. 8, 2010

• “Breaking news: Morton area body confirmed as missing teenager Austin King, sheriff’s office says” from Friday Aug. 20, 2010

• “Park filled with mourners for missing Morton teenager Austin King” from Saturday July 24, 2010

• “News brief: Specialist to help examine body found near Morton” from Thursday July 22, 2010

• “Vigil for Morton teen still on; body found yesterday not identified” from Wednesday July 21, 2010

• “News brief: Body of male found near logging road outside of Morton” from Tuesday July 20, 2010

• “News brief: Sheriff’ office seeks tips to find missing teen” from Thursday July 1, 2010

• “Morton teenager remains missing” from Thursday July 1, 2010

• Also, Roy Stemman, a writer in the United Kingdom, published a story, “Psychic guides searchers to teens body” in his Paranormal Review on July 27, 2010 after interviewing psychic Sonya Grace and Morton resident and search organizer Jennifer Mau, founder of the local chapter of Guardians of the Children.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Ron R. Meeks survived a motorcycle accident that put him a coma for two months, being struck by a car and getting hit by a train, but it was either a cigarette or a candle that ignited a fire in his Centralia apartment and ended his life earlier this month.

“The man has been through a lot,” his niece Melody Matson said. “And just to think, something like this happens, his family just can’t believe it.”

Ron R. Meeks / Courtesy photo

Meeks, 56, was found dead from smoke inhalation when firefighters searched his smoke-filled apartment Magnolia and Iron streets early on the morning of Nov. 1.

Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkowski said investigators have narrowed down the ignition source.

“He smoked, and it was in the area he frequented,” Walkowski said. “And he had candles burning throughout the apartment.”

The fire department is waiting for tests on fragments of metal that might have been a candle base, Walkowski said. It could be weeks or months before the results are returned, according to the chief.

Walkowski is a fan of battery-powered faux candles. He doesn”t use real candles in his home, he said.

It’s tough, because people like their ambiance, but they get knocked over, they get put too close to combustible materials and people forget about them, he said.

Firefighters didn’t find a smoke detector in the apartment, only a ring on the ceiling where it once had been, according to the chief.

Meeks moved into the apartment in February, initially with his girlfriend but she had moved out about three weeks before the fire.

Other than a brief period 20 years ago in Portland, it was the first time he’d ever lived on his own, according to his younger sister Karen Ames.

He suffered major brain damage in a motorcycle wreck when he was in his late 20s, Ames said. He had to learn to walk and talk all over again, she said. He didn’t work after that, she said.

“If you didn’t know him, he would remind you of someone who was born slow,” Ames said.

Ames, who lives near Ogden, Utah, reluctantly added that her brother was incarcerated before that.

“Reform school, he spent time in jail,” she said. “It was drugs. He had a drug problem since he was very, very young.”

Ames said she was told the autopsy and toxicology tests showed he was clean however.

“He really was a little bit of a wild child, but he had a good heart,” she said.

Matson, who lives in Olympia, helped him get the tiny Centralia apartment. He wanted his 43-year-old niece to take charge of his money, she said.

“He was all there, but like if you gave him $500, he’d spend it in an hour, Matson said.

She said she visited him the Friday before he died and he had another one of his wild ideas, she said. He thought he would sublet out the apartment and take the money to Los Vegas to have some fun, she said.

“I told him, you can’t do that,” Matson said. “And he’s like, ‘darling, it’ll work out’.”

One of his neighbors at the small single-story complex of concrete block apartments described Meeks as a “good guy” and Christian, but with a habit of bringing home things that didn’t belong to him.

Centralia police had a least three contacts with Meeks in the two weeks before he died. He was arrested for stealing a planter, for shoplifting and then for an outstanding warrant.

He always said he was a miracle because he survived so many potentially deadly accidents, Matson said.

When he was a teenager, he was in a vehicle that was hit by a train and about two years ago, he was walking in Lacey when he was hit by a car, according to his sister.

“He had a rough go of it, but he was a sweetheart,” Ames said.

Meeks had recently reconnected with a daughter. His parents are deceased and he had four siblings, but Ames is the only one still living.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A a Greenhill School escapee is back at the Chehalis facility after being found near Yelm yesterday.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office began scouring an area after an anonymous 911 caller said the 16-year-old boy was seen near Horizon-Pioneer Road about 2:30 p.m.

The teenager was incarcerated in the state juvenile institution for crimes such as motor vehicle theft, theft and burglary. Three weeks ago, staff discovered he was missing about 6:30 in the morning.

A pair of sheers were located inside the fence near where a  hole found cut.

Thurston County detective Sgt. Cheryl Stines said deputies yesterday didn’t find the youth at first but as they were driving around, spotted a vehicle with one occupant which is registered to the boy’s sister.

As the deputy followed, the vehicle sped up then the deputy saw there were two people in the car, Stines said.

The driver slammed on the brakes and the passenger jumped out, she said.

“The vehicle never stopped, it just kept going,” Stines said.

The deputy happened to be accompanied by his K-9 partner and when the 16-year-old didn’t stop running, the dog captured him, she said. He sustained only scratches, she said.

Stines said she didn’t know if the driver would be in any trouble for transporting the youth.

Greenhill School is a medium/maximum secure facility for older juvenile boys incarcerated for felonies and operated by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, under the state Department of Social and Health Services

The inmate, whose name was not released, has previous addresses from places such as Tenino, Rainier, Olympia and Roy.

The Chehalis Police Department is conducting the investigation into the escape.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The largest dairy farm in Lewis County lost 80 tons of hay and a $100,000 tractor in a Thanksgiving night fire but owner Leo Zylstra was calmly practical when he spoke of the damage today.

“It’s very inconvenient but we’ll pull through it,” Zylstra said. “It’s part of life I guess.”

The Misty Morning Dairy in Onalaska was able to get organized quickly and by 10 o’clock the next morning had replaced the hay, Zylstra said.

They milk 1,300 animals, so it was about four days of feed that were destroyed, he said.

He has insurance, he said.

Fifteen to 20 firefighters from Salkum, Onalaska and Mossyrock responded to the approximately 6:30 p.m. call on Thursday.

The original information was a tractor was on fire but when the first unit arrived, flames were rolling across the top of the commodities shed, a large three-sided building where the feed is stored, according to Lewis County Fire District 8 Assistant Chief Don Taylor.

They had to fight to keep it contained to the portion of the barn that was farthest away from the adjacent cows’ quarters, according to Taylor.

Zylstra said he didn’t lose any animals.

Crews were on the scene until 5:30 a.m. the next day pulling out and extinguishing the smoldering feed, most of it expensive alfalfa, according to Taylor.

Zylstra, who was in Arizona for the holiday but has returned home, was so appreciative for the all-night effort by the fire departments.

“That would have been really bad if it got into the loafing shed, that would have been a disaster,” he said.

Zylstra said the hay costs $200 per ton.

He said the large field tractor that burned was a 290 HP machine, probably valued at about $100,000. Somehow the grain grinder attached to it was undamaged, Zylstra said. Workers were grinding grain when the fire broke out, he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Misty Morning Dairy sits on 700 acres on the 800 block of Jorgensen Road.

It’s an operation that milks 24 hours a day with 20 employees. The Zylstras bought the dairy in 1980.
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Note from news reporter Sharyn Decker: Zylstra purchased the dairy in 1980 from Floyd and Vi Decker. Floyd Decker was a cousin of my father’s.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County’s now-former chief deputy coroner fell asleep repeatedly during her contact with a state trooper this summer when she was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of depressants, according to charging documents.

Carmen Brunton’s arraignment is set for Tuesday in Lewis County District Court. She was charged Nov. 12 after the results of blood tests came back.

Brunton was let go from her job after the July traffic stop on Interstate 5 south of Chehalis; it was just before 8 a.m. on her way to work.

The Winlock resident told a sheriff’s deputy she was on numerous prescription medications and had taken Oxycodone about an hour earlier, according to charging documents. Oxycodone is a synthetic narcotic prescribed for pain.

Brunton, 56, was the coroner’s office only full time employee and was responsible for its day to day operations. She had been a county employee since 1993.

Driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Charging documents give a similar account to a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office incident report, which was available soon after Brunton’s arrest.

Deputy Jason Mauermann wrote that he responded to a citizen report in Napavine that a Black Expedition was “all over the road” and had pulled into the Chevron station on Rush Road. He followed it onto Interstate 5 where he described the vehicle as repeatedly drifting between lanes.

When he contacted Brunton near the Labree Road interchange, the deputy wrote, she had very slow speech and heavy, sleepy eyes but he didn’t detect any odor of liquor. When asked, she said she was on numerous prescription medications, including muscle relaxers, heart pills and pain medication, according to Mauermann.

Upon further questioning, she told him she had taken Oxycodone for pain that morning, but not a muscle relaxer, according to Mauermann’s report.

Deputies requested a trooper take over the investigation to avoid a conflict because they worked closely with her.

Charging documents say Trooper Weaver responded and conducted an evaluation, noting Brunton also had slurred speech and was unsteady when she walked.

“Weaver observed that Brunton was lethargic and drowsy and fell asleep multiple times during his contact with her,” charging documents state.

Weaver, a drug recognition expert, concluded she was under the influence of a central nervous system depressant.

Brunton was put on administrative leave that day, July 15. Her boss, elected Coroner Terry Wilson, said her leave ended and she wouldn’t be returning on Aug. 3, the same day a front page news story was published about the arrest.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said the drugs found with the blood test are Oxycodone, a pain pill; lorazepam which is often used for anxiety; as well as citalopram, amitriptyline and nortiptyline

Beigh said the last three can be used as antidepressants and one of them was a component of one of the others.

There’s no allegation Brunton was taking any medication not legally prescribed to her.

Beigh said she didn’t know if they were all prescribed, but it doesn’t matter.

“What matters is if a drug of some sort has impaired your driving,” Beigh said.

Brunton’s duties for about the previous 12 years included managing the office, assisting in death investigations, arranging autopsies and notifying the next of kin when deaths occur that are under the jurisdiction of the coroner’s office.

Coroner Wilson said in early August he had not seen anything breaking the protocol for safe storage and eventual destruction of the wide variety of medications his office confiscates, something it is required to do by state law.

Last month, however, in a meeting with Lewis County commissioners, the newly appointed chief deputy coroner Dawn Harris described a new policy she said was established last May.

The coroner’s office still collects any medications they find belonging to the deceased individuals they are responsible for, but all narcotics are counted and put into an evidence bag at the scene, which is witnessed by a law enforcement officer, according to Harris.

The coroners office also has put into writing a policy that deputy coroners don’t take possession of weapons at death scenes, Harris said at the same meeting.

Come January, Wilson will end 28 years of his job as elected coroner.

Community college forensics instructor Warren McLeod of Chehalis won the office in this month’s election with 54.5 percent of the vote running against retired DEA agent Micheal Hurley of Mossyrock.
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Read “Coroner’s top employee out after arrest for driving under the influence of pain pills” from Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 21-year-old male was arrested after he allegedly crawled under the closed door of an occupied public bathroom stall in Morton where an 8-year-old boy started screaming drawing the child’s grandfather and then police.

The incident happened in June.

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges earlier this month and summoned the 21-year-old suspect from Morton to Lewis County Superior Court.

Steven R. Moulton appeared before a judge on Wednesday, but has not yet been arraigned.

Charging documents in the case describe that on June 25, the child was with his family who were camping in Gust Backstrom Park.

The boy went to the public restroom, according to his grandfather, who said he then saw a dark-haired male enter.

About 20 seconds later, the child started screaming, the grandfather told police.

The grandfather ran to the bathroom, forced open the stall door and threw Moulton out, according to charging documents.

The boy told police he was sitting down behind the locked door when it happened, and said Moulton covered his mouth with his hand and punched him twice in the face, according to charging documents.

Moulton denied hitting the boy, and told police “he could see someone was in the locked stall, but he had to go to the bathroom,” according to charging documents.

Defense attorney Robert Schroeter who represented Moulton at his first appearance in court on Nov. 16 said, “Without question, there are developmental delays.”

The 21-year-old was scheduled to make his plea on Wednesday, but court-appointed defense attorney David Arcuri told Judge James Lawler he first needed to get an order to have Moulton evaluated.

“I represented him a couple of years ago and he was found not competent related to a developmental disability,” Arcuri said.

Lawler agreed and scheduled the two to return to the Chehalis court next week.

He is free on a $25,000 signature bond co-signed by his father, Michael R. Moulton.

The senior Moulton is the Morton School District teacher whose teaching certificate was suspended at the beginning of this school year after having been under review for nearly a year in connection with his arrest for allegedly assaulting students by touching them.

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office charged the younger Moulton with first-degree burglary for the June incident in the park restroom.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said “… the good news is, nothing really bad happened. I don’t know what his motive was.”

Meagher explained the unusual charging decision saying it technically fits the elements of burglary, a class A felony.

That is, he unlawfully entered or remained in a building with the intent to commit a crime, and he did assault the boy; he put his hand over his mouth, Meagher said.

“You have a public restroom, but he crawled under  locked stall,” Meagher said. “So that is impliedly not open.”

“It fits legally, it’s just not something you typically see,” he said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Final results show defense attorney Jonathan Meyer beat incumbent Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden in the Nov. 2 election with 67 percent of the vote.

Golden, who won the office four years ago, had very little to say about the outcome.

Michael Golden

“I think that people’s votes were clear, come Jan. 1, they’ll have a new prosecutor in the county, and hopefully things will work out well for the county,” Golden said yesterday after the election was certified.

Following the August primary, the Chehalis-area Republican attributed his poor showing against the challenger as the public not knowing much about the race until just before the ballots came out.

It’s a reversal from 2006 when initial tallies in the race for prosecutor gave then-Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office civil attorney Golden an overwhelming lead with almost 64 percent over Centralia attorney Don Blair.

Meyer won this year’s August primary election with almost 65 percent of the vote and then preliminary counts on Nov. 2’s election night gave Meyer just over 66 percent.

Golden declined to speculate on what may have caused his overwhelming loss.

“I think the people you need to ask are the voters, come Jan. 1, my personal life will be my personal life again.”

He didn’t say what he expected he would be doing after he leaves office.

Golden did suggest he’ll be in his office throughout the end of the year to make sure “things will be in shape” for Jan. 1.

The final tally gave Meyer 67.06 percent with 18,333 votes and Golden 32.94 percent with 9,005 votes.

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See all the final election results here

Read election night news story “Election: New prosecutor Meyer is “humbled” he says” from Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 here

Read pre-general election story about the race for prosecutor from Saturday Oct. 30, 2010 here

Read pre-primary story about the race for prosecutor from Sunday Aug. 15, 2010 here