Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The state has paid $3 million to the families of the murder victims of John Allen Booth, three individuals who were shot to death by an ex-convict who was supposed to be under supervision after his release from prison.

John Allen Booth Jr.

The state Department of Corrections issued a statement today on the settlement reached after a claim  for damages was filed.

“The heinous murders that John Allen Booth Jr. committed caused unbearable heartache for multiple families,” the news release stated. “We hope these settlements help his victims’ families with their loss. We are also glad that we were able to reach an agreement with the victims’ families to avoid costly litigation.”

Booth, 32, was sent to prison for life last December after his convictions in the slayings of David West Sr., 52,  David “D.J.” West Jr., 16, and 50-year-old Tony Williams of Randle.

The three, along with Denise Salts who survived a gunshot to the face, were found in the home Salts and the Wests shared on Wings Way in the Onalaska-Salkum area on August 21, 2010.

Booth was released from prison in December 2009 and was supposed to be on supervision from DOC, but after he was arrested it appeared his community corrections officer hadn’t contacted him for several months.

The minimum number of contacts required for a high risk violent offender was four times each month.

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For background, read “John Booth Jr.: State prison doesn’t know if it was closely enough monitoring ex-convict charged in triple homicide” from Saturday August, 28, 2010, here

Roses and baby's breath adorn urns of the unclaimed dead at Claquato Cemetery.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

A handful of people joined staff from the Lewis County Coroner’s Office on a spread of browned lawn beneath towering evergreens to pay their respects to the unclaimed dead who were buried this week.

The short memorial service at Claquato Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon was held for 14 individuals who have died in Lewis County over the past 14 years with no relatives to take custody of their bodies.

A red rose lay atop each of the brown-paper wrapped containers holding their ashes as Chaplain Brian Carter offered a brief prayer.

“We lay to rest these forgotten souls knowing full well you have not forgotten them,” Carter said.

Sondra Peckinpaugh came from her home across the street from the cemetery, even though she didn’t know any of the dead.

“I was kind of hoping more would be here,” she said.

Peckinpaugh said she has sometimes in the 40 years she’s resided near the so-called county section of the memorial park “adopted” a grave of an un-named person.

She regularly decorated with flowers a burial spot of a “Jane Doe” found in a river in the 1980s, she said.

Claquato Cemetery Manager Lacie Jendryka said a decision has not been made yet as to exactly how the grave will be marked. It won’t include all the names; a list will kept in cemetery records though, she said.

Many of the plots in what sometimes has been known as the welfare section do have flat headstones.

The burial of multiple cremated remains together in a single concrete liner is the first of its kind in the park, according to Jendryka.

Not all the dead are truly forgotten, some have friends still in the area, just no  family who could legally claim their bodies, according to the coroner’s office.

At the Twin City Senior Center in Chehalis during lunchtime announcements prior to the service, site leader Lou Morales passed around a list of those who were set to be buried.

Morales attended the ceremony with her parents, Lewis County Commissioner Ron Averill and his wife Jan Averill.

Three of the names were recognized by seniors, she said. Some there felt sure one of them, Mary Katherine Gibson, still had family in the area, she said.

“A lot of them would have liked to have come,” Morales said.

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For background including the list, read “The unclaimed dead of Lewis County” from Sunday July 29, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Seattle TImes reports the real life Drugstore Cowboy died yesterday at the Monroe prison.

James Fogle, 75, spent a summer in the Lewis County Jail, towards the end of a life lived mostly behind bars, a life the Seattle Times describes as inspiration for his autobiographical novel made into a movie of the same name – the 1989 film that featured actor Matt Dillon.

It was June 28, 1995, when Fogle was arrested in Centralia. He was sitting in a car with glass on his hair, shoulders and in his coat pockets after he broke into the Centralia Pharmacy at 212 N. Tower Ave. with a crowbar and carried out a tray of bottles of prescription narcotics, according to court documents.

When Centralia’s detective Fitzgerald advised him of his rights for an interview the following day, his response was short.

“I think I’m pretty well screwed here, I better talk to my attorney,” court documents relate.

He added he’d been on a binge after his wife died a week earlier. The address in his file was in Tacoma.

At 58, his nine listed past convictions which included robbery, burglary and drugs stretched back to a 1957 crime of taking a motor vehicle without permission.

Fogle’s handwritten motion in the court file a month later asked a judge to appoint him adequate counsel.

“So far I have seen no one I recognize as counsel, spoke with nothing but a voice over the telephone briefly and have been shuffled through this system like a pig led to slaughter,” Fogle wrote.

He complained that after his initial appearance in court, instead of the lawyer he was led to believe he was to see, he was presented with a reporter.

Still, it was court-appointed Centralia attorney Don McConnell who told the court Fogle’s defense to second-degree burglary would be general denial.

However, he pleaded guilty as charged and on Aug. 30, was sentenced by Lewis County Superior Court Judge H. John Hall to five years plus eight months in prison. Deputy Prosecutor Ruth Vogel – working for then elected Lewis County Prosecutor Nelson Hunt – signed the document.

According to his court file, Fogle was released from prison and by the end of 1999 was granted his request to a probation officer to reside in Palm Desert, California, as he was a writer and would be closer to his publicist

His Washington probation officer lost track of him shortly before his term of active supervision ended, but noted Fogle, or someone on his behalf, continued to make payments on his court ordered legal obligations.

In the summer of 2001, Fogle was brought from a Snohomish County corrections facility back to Lewis County, for a probation violation: failing to notify DOC of his changed address.

Judge David Draper gave him 60 days in jail.

Seattlepi.com’s Scott Sunde writes that Fogle’s convictions that followed his Centralia Pharmacy incarceration were in 2001 for a Snohomish County burglary, in 2004 for a burglary in Kent in which he was found asleep inside a drugstore near paper bags filled with $10,000 worth of pills and his final felony in May 2010 when he and a partner robbed a pharmacy in Redmond.

Seattle Times news reporter Jennifer Sullivan writes Fogle’s death yesterday following a battle with lung ailments occurred during his 16 year sentence.
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For more, read:

• ” ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ author James Fogle dies at 75″ from The Seattle Times on Thursday August 23, 2012 at 8:04 p.m., here

• “The real ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ dies in state prison” from Seattlepi.com on Friday August 24, 2012 at 10:08 a.m., here

A jail guard directs accused killer Ricky Riffe to his seat in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Ricky Allen Riffe arrived before a full court room gallery today, his gray hair and beard trimmed up for his arraignment in the kidnap and slaying of an elderly Ethel couple.

Riffe, 53, has been held on $5 million bail in the 1985 deaths of Ed and Minnie Maurin. He was just arrested last month in Alaska.

“Not guilty,” Riffe repeated seven times looking toward the Lewis County Superior Court judge who asked for his pleas.

His lawyer, Seattle-based John Crowley, indicated as they began to schedule a trial and other dates, he had yet to receive any police reports from the prosecutor’s office.

Ed and Minnie Maurin

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead stepped up and handed over a portable computer storage device he said contained 12,000 pages of discovery.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has investigated and reinvestigated the case since December 1985 when the Maurins vanished from their home on U.S. Highway 12 and their bodies turned up days later off a logging road outside Adna.

Authorities believe the couple was taken from their house, forced to drive to their bank and withdraw money, before being shot in the backs and dumped.

Riffe and his younger brother who recently died have long been suspects. They moved to Alaska in 1987.

The former heavy equipment operator, through his attorney, denies any involvement.

Five sheriff’s detectives joined three jail guards in the crowded Chehalis courtroom, in part to keep an eye on family members from both sides of the case.

“You know, emotions get going. We don’t want to see anything happen,” sheriff’s detective Sgt. Dusty Breen said.

Riffe is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery, as well as one count of burglary.

Numerous aggravating circumstances are alleged including particularly vulnerable victims and deliberate cruelty. Ed Maurin was 81 years old, his wife 83.

Crowley spoke with news reporters after the short hearing and hinted at new evidence that could support his client’s innocence, but said he wasn’t prepared to reveal any details.

“This is an issue that’s developed, it’s quite interesting,” Crowley said.

The lawyer said he was contacted about a week ago by a woman who knows a lot of details about the situation.

“I talked to her for the better part of an hour,” he said. “I talked to Ricky about it, and he started crying.”

The trial was set for the week of Oct. 8. Crowley expressed his doubt he could be prepared that soon, given the thousands of documents involved.
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For more background, read:

• “Breaking news: Sheriff: Cold case solved in 1985 shooting death of elderly Ethel couple” from Monday July 9, 2012 at 9:13 a.m., here

• “Sheriff: It’s safe for further witnesses to come forward following arrest in deaths of Ethel couple” from Monday July 9, 2012 at 5:14 p.m., here

• “Maurin homicide: Accused murderer’s lawyer says no new evidence in old case” from Thursday July 26, 2012, here

• “Maurin homicide: “He definitely did not do it” from Tuesday July 31, 2012, here

Members of the media are joined by firefighters, EMTs and paramedics in an attempt to "resuscitate" a plastic dummy.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Emergency responders from Napavine, Chehalis and Winlock took time on Tuesday to help local media better understand their work with a “field day” where rookies got to handle a fire hose and revive a dummy in cardiac arrest.

Members of Lewis County Fire District 6 shared some of what they do with reporters at a donated vacant house on Bishop Road in Chehalis.

Personnel have been using the structure for training this month and expect to have it awhile longer before it gets torn down, according to District 6 Chief Tim Kinder.

At Lewis County District 5’s main station in Napavine, Chief Eric Linn spoke about the time commitment volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians make.

“These are your neighbors,” Linn said as he introduced some of them, such as a nurse, a retired engineer, a floor supervisor at a casino.

It takes a minimum of 130 hours of training to become a firefighter and then at least that many to work as an EMT, according to Linn.

At his department, they train for three to four hours every week. Each member also is scheduled for periodic 24-hour shifts.

Live95 radio’s Cathy V. and Stephanie Schendel of The Chronicle got to save the life of a plastic dummy.

The two women did the chest compression portion of CPR to a pretend victim until volunteers and full-time staff from Districts 5, 15 and Lewis County Medic One arrived to take over. And then the pair resumed during a short ride in the back of an ambulance.

Paramedic Steve Kattenbraker explained how 100 compressions per minute can be achieved if one keeps beat to the Bee Gees disco hit “Stayin’ Alive“.

“Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen has the right rhythm as well, but they don’t do that out loud.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The chances of Joshua Vance walking free if he’s found not guilty by reason of insanity?

Very unlikely, according to his lawyer.

Joshua Vance / File photo

Vance, 25, is charged with murder after allegedly using a knife to attack his sleeping father, 58-year-old Terry Vance this past spring in their Onalaska home.

He’s been held in the Lewis County Jail  on $1 million bail since his arrest while attorneys on both sides move the case through the criminal justice system.

His family says he was being treated for mental health issues at Cascade Mental Health in Chehalis and had gone off his medication because he couldn’t afford it.

Deputies were summoned early the morning of March 7 to the home on the 400 block of Pennel Avenue by a 911 call from Vance who said he’d just killed his father.

According to charging documents, he told a deputy he was going to kill everyone else on the property, but he couldn’t because he cut his hand. He told an arriving firefighter he cut his fingers to make himself stop.

Charging documents say Vance stabbed his father at least 11 times and cut his throat.

The sheriff’s office had no explanation as to why he did it.

The Centralia College student pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in early May. A hearing is scheduled before a judge in late September to hear from psychologists on both sides.

“A judge will decide if we’ve met our burden,” defense attorney David Arcuri said after a brief hearing today in Lewis County Superior Court.

Vance, who was brought up from the jail, sat quietly next to his lawyer this afternoon. He wasn’t asked to speak during the session before Judge Nelson Hunt.

He has been found competent to stand trial by professionals at Western State Hospital, but whether he suffers from a mental disease such that he could not comprehend his act, or even if he could understand, could not conform his behavior are separate questions to be addressed, according to Arcuri.

A doctor for the defense found that because of Vance’s acute mental illness at the time of the alleged incident, he was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of his conduct.

A subsequent evaluation was done by a doctor hired for the prosecution. Neither side would say today what that expert concluded. The report is not required to be added to the court file.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher would only say he is taking it “one step at a time.”

According to the report from Western State’s previous contact with Vance, he has been hospitalized in the past for command hallucinations to kill himself and harm others. He also has been treated for substance induced hallucinations, according to the report.

His diagnosis’s in the state doctors’ report included psychotic disorder, major depression, amphetamine dependence and alcohol abuse.

According to Arcuri, if the judge finds his client is not guilty by reason of insanity, there would be more questions for the judge to answer.

For example, according to Arcuri, how much of a danger does Vance present and should he be released with certain conditions, or should he be held at Western State Hospital.

Neither Arcuri nor Meagher indicated today it’s likely Vance could simply walk free.

A commitment to the state mental hospital with this type of plea can be as long as the top sentence for the crime charged. He is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. The maximum penalty is life.

Alternatively, if the judge isn’t convinced Vance is not guilty by reason of insanity, the next step is presenting that defense to a jury, according to Arcuri.

A trial is still on the calendar for the week of Oct. 22.

The day long hearing for the judge to hear from both psychologists is set for 9 a.m. on Sept. 26.

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For background, read:

• “Onalaskan’s insanity plea in alleged murder of father bolstered by mental exam” from Wednesday July 11, 2012, here

• “Onalaska man pleads insanity in father’s fatal stabbing” from Tuesday May 8, 2012, here

•  “Murder suspect: “When he was good, he was such a good young man”” from Friday March 9, 2012, here