Lewis County Sirens.com

Katrina M. Bowen waits for her hearing to start, to find out what her revised sentence will be.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Winlock mother whose sentence for stealing thousands of dollars from her employer was deemed by an appeals court to be too harsh got it cut in half today.

Katrina M. Bowen was back in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon, in front of the same judge who gave her four years for the crime, twice what prosecutors recommended at the time.

The victims, the owners of the Flying K store and gas station in Toledo, Gordon and Tonya Lovell, attended the hearing as well.

Gordon Lovell told the judge they are still in business, but almost decided to call it quits last year because of the financial devastation.

“It’s been two years, and I still owe back taxes and still haven’t been able to pay some of my creditors,” he said.

The court previously concluded Bowen owed them $137,000 in restitution.

Bowen worked for the couple for eight or nine years, but they only collected data from the two years before the theft was discovered and they fired her, he said.

“For those two years, she was stealing from us every single day that she worked,” Lovell said.

Bowen, then 37, admitted to the police chief to pocketing money from beer sales and to helping herself to as many as 500 $5 lottery scratch tickets each shift during the previous six months. She said she was keeping track of them in her head, and then admitted she had a gambling problem.

She pleaded guilty in January of last year to first-degree theft with an aggravating factor that it was a major economic offense, meaning the judge would be free to hand down an exceptionally long sentence.

In its opinion issued in September, the Washington State Court of Appeals said Judge Richard Brosey abused his discretion, and four years was clearly excessive.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg recommended 24 months at her first sentencing, and recommended the same today.

Defense attorney Don Blair the first time asked that she get 90 days, the top of the standard sentencing range for a person with no criminal history.

Blair reminded the judge he’d previously argued his client only stole around $20,000.

He didn’t specify today what he thought her new sentence should be, but offered the court a listing of Bowen’s accomplishments.

While incarcerated, she has completed a two-year business technical degree, participated in an A.A. 12-step program, and taken courses in parenting, nonviolent relations and stress management, he said.

She works in the prison kitchen and also on a crew that works outside the institution four days a week, according to Blair.

“Katrina realizes she has a gambling problem and was in treatment up until the time she went in,” Blair said.

Judge Brosey said those were commendable steps, but don’t help the victims.

He pointed out that he believed before, and still does, that the problem with this type of theft is it can drive a small business entirely out of business.

The judge also said he felt the Court of Appeals focused too much on the lottery ticket theft and not the rest of it, because the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office didn’t make it clear enough.

“This was bigger than lottery tickets,” Brosey said.

He agreed with a 24-month sentence.

“That should result in her being released, with credit for time served and with good time, immediately, if not sooner,” Brosey said..

Bowen has been ordered to make payments of $25 per month for her financial legal obligations, including restitution.

The Lovells said they haven’t seen any of it yet, and estimate it will take her more than 400 years to pay off what she owes.

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For background, read “Appeals court says Toledo lottery theft sentence is too long” from Wednesday September 30, 2015, here

Austin C. Courtright, in red, consults with his lawyer during his bail hearing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – It may have been an accident, but it was also negligent so a charge of third-degree assault was filed against the Centralia resident whose pistol in his pocket discharged, striking his girlfriend in the leg, according to prosecutors.

Austin C. Courtright, 18, was arrested on Monday and brought before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

Judge Nelson Hunt set his bail at $25,000.

Centralia police learned of the incident very early on Monday morning when they were summoned to an Olympia hospital for the 21-year-old gunshot victim.

According to authorities, it happened in Centralia, but the victim and Courtright chose Providence St. Peter Hospital, hoping to avoid arrest for warrants.

Charging documents relate that they were in the basement of a house on First Street in Centralia, with at least two other people.

Kristina Bailey was sitting on Courtright’s lap, legs straddled and facing him, when the gun went off, hitting her in her inner right thigh, according to statements given to police.

Courtright said his hand was on the gun when it fired, but he thought it was unloaded because he had removed the bullets from the clip, according to the statements.

The group took her to someone else’s house and then to the hospital.

Police recovered the bullet, which fell out of her pants while they were in the car, according to court documents. Centralia detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald described the weapon as a small caliber handgun.

Bailey was treated and released from the hospital the same day.

Courtright told police he didn’t know what happened to the gun or other bullets, but thought maybe they fell out of his pocket between the house and the car, court documents relate. It hadn’t been located as of yesterday.

Courtright was also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

He’s not allowed to possess firearms because of a felony conviction earlier this year for first-degree malicious mischief and juvenile convictions for second-degree escape and fourth-degree assault domestic violence, according to Deputy Prosecutor Sheila Weirth.

“The defendant said he knew he should not have the gun, but was afraid of being victimized by gang members who used to be his friends,” Weirth wrote in charging documents.

He also has a juvenile conviction from 2012 for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors asked for much higher bail, citing a community safety risk, but defense attorney Joely O’Rourke asked for her client to be released as his mother, who was in the courtroom, was willing to co-sign a signature bond.

There was a hold on him from JRA, the state Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, and he wanted to take care of that issue, O’Rourke said.

“It looks like he’s going to be serving about four months,” she said.

Judge Hunt said no, he didn’t want to take a chance on some other state agency taking the defendant away, and Lewis County not getting him back.

The offenses Courtright is charged with are class C felonies, with maximum penalties of five years in prison.
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For background, read “Police: Handgun in Centralia teen’s pocket accidentally fired, wounding girlfriend” from Monday November 30, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The writing found on a student’s desk early last month – “Ima shoot up the school 11/10.” – that prompted a search of everyone entering Centralia High School the following day was just doodling, according to the 16-year-old girl who subsequently turned herself in to police.

Principal Josue Lowe informed parents over the weekend the incident was solved and the individual responsible had been removed from school.

The Centralia Police Department this morning announced its investigation led to a suspect by comparing school reports and the handwriting on the desk.

She initially denied involvement, but returned later with her parent and confessed, according to police.

The girl told police she was doodling and forgot to erase it, and had no intention of following through with what was taken as a threat.

The 16-year-old student was then arrested, on Nov. 13, for felony harassment and booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to detective Patty Finch.

The day after the message was discovered, officers from several agencies searched all students prior to their entry into the school.

It was less than six weeks earlier that a message discovered on a desk saying a student was planning to kill people at an assembly later in the day, prompted an hours-long lockdown and search at the high school. That threat prompted the postponement of Homecoming activities.

Finch said detectives don’t have any evidence the two incidents are related to one another. They don’t have a suspect in the Oct. 2 incident, she said.

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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – NOTE THREATENING TO SHOOT UP SCHOOL” from Tuesday, November 10, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police today said they concluded a 21-year-old gunshot victim was injured when a small caliber pistol in her boyfriend’s pocket accidentally discharged.

The woman was struck in the thigh and has been treated and released from the hospital, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Centralia officers were summoned to the emergency room at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia about 1 o’clock this morning after Olympia police determined an arriving patient was wounded in Centralia.

This morning, police said they didn’t know specifically where in Centralia the incident occurred, and this afternoon detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald didn’t offer further detail on a location, noting it is still an active investigation.

Police have said both individuals are Centralia residents.

The 18-year-old boyfriend was arrested this morning for unlawful possession of a firearm, because he is a convicted felon, according to Fitzgerald. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail also for outstanding warrants.

Fitzgerald declined to identify the boyfriend, because he has not yet been criminally charged.

Detectives are continuing to follow up on other information, according to Fitzgerald.
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For background, read “Detectives investigating Centralia shooting ” from Monday November 30, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

One person is hospitalized and another in custody after a shooting police believe occurred in Centralia.

Officers were notified about 12:50 a.m. of a gunshot victim seeking treatment at an Olympia hospital who told authorities they had been shot in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

The exact location of where the incident happened is still unknown, police said this morning.

Detectives are in Olympia investigating, according to Officer Buddy Croy.

Croy said the female victim and the male suspect are both young adults and Centralia residents.

The victim’s injuries are described as non-life threatening.

The alleged shooter has been booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Croy.

Croy said further details should be available later as the detectives learn more about what happened.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office wants residents to know a level three registered sex offender has moved to north Centralia.

Garth D. Snively, 66, now resides on the 1200 block of Logan Street.

Public notification of where registered sex offenders reside is intended to enhance public safety, according to the sheriff’s office. Level three is the designation for individuals deemed most likely to reoffend.

Garth D. Snively

Snively is a clear risk to re-offend, according to the sheriff’s office.

Snively served a prison term after his 1994 convictions for two counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of indecent liberties, according to the sheriff’s office. His victim was an 11-year-old boy he met while he was a Sunday school teacher at a church in Snohomish County, according to sheriff’s detective Jamey McGinty. He is not wanted.

He is among a small portion of offenders who, following his release in 2006, was civilly committed to the Special Commitment Center at McNeil Island where authorities retain offenders in custody for treatment until they are found to be no longer dangerous.

The process comes from the Community Protection Act of 1990,

According to information provided by McGinty, Snively admitted to molesting other boys beginning when he was 12 years old, and over the course of the investigation for his case, disclosed more than 30 victims, and once estimated over 100 victims. Some were related to him.

They were all boys between the ages of 5 and 12.

Snively gained access to many of the victims through social outings including through the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, Big Brothers and his position as a Sunday School instructor, according to McGinty.

Snively is among a small number of individuals who have been granted release from McNeil Island.

McGinty said to his knowledge, it’s the first time the county has had someone move here after getting out from the Special Commitment Center.

There are currently more than 500 registered sex offenders living in Lewis County. Twenty-three of them are designated as level threes.

But unlike others, who only have to register their address, following their time with DOC, Snively has numerous strict conditions.

He was granted what’s called a less restricted alternative release, and is allowed to transition to the community, according to McGinty. He is still under the custody of the state Department of Corrections, according to McGinty.

Snively lives in a home he purchased, according to McGinty.

Among his conditions are, Snively is restricted to his property, except for appointments with DOC and his very intensive sex offender treatment.

“He must be escorted, if he gets permission to leave his house, by qualified chaperones,” McGinty stated in an email exchange today.

Further, McGinty said he has been told Snively will have GPS to monitor his his movement. And he will be closely monitored by DOC, visited frequently, according to McGinty.

Snively moved in yesterday, and registered with McGinty yesterday.

Personnel from the Special Commitment Center have been chaperoning him to his appointments, he said.

Snively is described as a white male, 5-feet 9-inches tall and weighing 290 pounds. He has gray hair but is balding and has hazel eyes.

The sheriff’s office flyer for Snively contains the same language as it does for other registered sex offenders:

The notifications are not intended to increase fear, but rather are made because of the belief an informed public is a safer public.

“Using this public information to threaten, intimidate or harass sex offenders will not be tolerated by the law enforcement agencies of Lewis County,” the flyer states. “This abuse could potentially terminate our ability to release this important information to the public.”

For further details about Snively, check the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office website. Those with questions can contact McGinty or Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Bruce Kimsey at 360-748-9286.

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Sheriff’s detectives were asked to conduct a death investigation after a 92-year-old Mossyrock woman was found in her closet at her home and transported to Morton General Hospital where she passed away not long after.

Morton Police Chief Dan Mortensen, whose jurisdiction includes the town of Mossyrock, said this afternoon it turned out to be an unfortunate accidental death.

Beulah McMurry was found by a friend on Friday, he said.

“She used a walker, we think she got disoriented and got tangled up in her closet,” Mortensen said. “And was there for a day or more.”

The residence on the 200 block of Hope Street was cordoned off for the investigation.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Dusty Breen said it was very chilly inside. The heater and two wood stoves were not producing heat, as she apparently only used an electric blanket in the evenings, according to Breen.

An autopsy today confirmed McMurry died from hypothermia, according to Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod.

Mortensen said he believed she lived alone, but said she obviously had many friends and family.

Rumors that her home had been ransacked and all her medications stolen added to law enforcement’s concern, Mortensen said. But the investigation concluded that wasn’t the case, he said.