Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Winlock resident was hospitalized after his car was hit by a school bus east of Castle Rock this afternoon.

Jacob D. Berry, 18, was stopped at a stop sign on Hall Road at state Route 504 when the 1998 Bluebird school bus turning onto Hall Road struck his driver’s side door, according to the Washington Sate Patrol.

Berry’s 1998 Honda Accord was totaled, the state patrol reported.

Berry was taken to St. John Medical Center in Longview with neck pain, according to the investigating trooper.

There were children on board, but none were injured, Trooper Steve Schatzel said.

The bus driver, Janyce I. Phillips, 55, of Toutle, was cited for making an improper turn, the patrol reported. The bus sustained an estimated $500 damage.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Winlock man accused of fatally shooting a trailer park neighbor pleaded guilty and was sentenced today to 16 years in prison.

Richard J. F. Roth

Richard Joseph Frank Roth, 65, was charged in the Nov. 4 death of 64-year-old Jackie Marie Lawyer in the Frost Road Trailer Park.

Prosecutors said in charging documents Roth retrieved a handgun from his property and confronted Lawyer near the trailer park mailboxes after an argument between the two about him “snitching” on her for her dumping wood stove ashes in the woods. Lawyer died from a gunshot wound to her chin and neck.

Roth was arrested that day and charged with first-degree murder. His trial had been scheduled for June.

Today, in front to Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt, Roth pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which included a firearm enhancement that adds a mandatory five years to his sentence, according to Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer.

Jackie Marie Lawyer

The reason for the plea agreement: “Given his age, he will not, probably not live to be released,” Meyer said.

Roth was represented by court-appointed attorney Mike Underwood.
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Read background on the November shooting here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS  – A defendant in Lewis County Superior Court won his appeal of a denial of his attempt to withdraw a guilty plea because his lawyer wrongly told him the crime was not a strike offense.

A panel of three judges in the Washington State Court of Appeals on Friday agreed that Brad C. Brower ought to have been allowed to withdraw his May 2009 Alford plea to attempted indecent liberties.

Both the defense attorney and the prosecutor were mistaken about the classification of the crime, according to the opinion. Neither attorney was named in the opinion.

Brower was initially charged in March 2009 with two counts of attempted second-degree rape, or, in the alternative indecent liberties with forcible compulsion, according to the opinion.

Brower argued he would not have entered the plea had he known it was a strike offense.

The appeals court reversed the trial court’s denial of the motion to withdraw the plea and remanded for further proceedings.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 77-year-old woman from Shelton was injured on Interstate 5 in Chehalis today when she changed lanes and collided with another car and then rolled over the concrete center barrier and hit two vehicles coming the other direction.

Lorraine I. Lightbody suffered a broken leg and cuts to her face after the approximately 1:30 p.m. four-car wreck near the Chamber of Commerce interchange, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Her 2002 Ford Taurus and two other vehicles were totaled, the state patrol reported.

Lightbody was northbound and the northbound car she first struck was driven by Judith C. Oakes, 69, of Centralia, the state patrol reported. Oakes was reportedly uninjured, but her 2006 Pontiac Vibe also rolled over and came to rest on its top, according to the investigating trooper.

One of the southbound vehicles, driven by a Redmond man, went off the road to the right and came to rest in the grass. It sustained an estimated $2,000 damage. The other was a Dodge Ram pickup driven by a Lynnwood resident

Lightbody was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the parol reported.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set today at $3 million for the man charged in the October 1986 shooting death of 23-year-old Efren J. Triana outside a Centralia tavern.

Carlos Vidal Guiterrez, now 54, was brought to Lewis County earlier this week following his arrest by U.S. marshals in San Benito County in central California.

Efren J. Triana

Triana was the youngest in a family of seven children. He lived in Rochester.

His three brothers – who reside in Rochester and Grand Mound – were among a contingent of family in the courtroom today, in Lewis County Superior Court.

Triana did carpentry work, had a girlfriend and lived with his parents, the family said.

“He was a nice person, he got along with a lot of people,” his older brother Roy Triana said.

Prosecutors allege Guiterrez shot Triana when the two stepped outside La Adalitas to fight on Oct. 25, 1986, before fleeing the area and avoiding capture for nearly 25 years.

Guiterrez is charged with second-degree murder, a class A felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

He is scheduled to make his plea on April 20.
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Read background in “Accused slayer of Rochester man in 1986 faces a judge today” from Wednesday April 6, 2011, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Less than a week after saying a decision on where to build a new state prison facility was put on hold, officials announced they have narrowed their search to three sites, including Grand Mound.

Properties pitched by Winlock, Morton and Castle Rock didn’t make the cut.

The state Department of Corrections hopes to construct what they call a reception center in Western Washington – with some 1000 beds.

It’s the place offenders go first, to be evaluated for physical, mental health, security and other needs and to determine the particular prison where they will serve their time, according to DOC.

The other locations which will move forward in the selection process are in Mason County near Shelton and Kitsap County near Belfair, according to a news release this morning from DOC.

The next step is conducting Environmental Impact Statement assessments, which will include cost analysis’s.

The property in Grand Mound is where Maple Lane School is, a state juvenile detention center slated for closure.

The Department anticipates having a preferred site identified by December.

The state legislature has approved funding to find a location and for pre-design costs but have not yet approved funds to build the new facility, according to DOC.

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The Olympian writes further about the potential sites, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The suspect arrested two weeks ago in connection with a 1986 shooting death in Centralia has been extradited from California and returned to Lewis County.

Carlos Vidal Gutierrez, 54, of Aromas, California, was picked up by U.S. Marshals on March 23.

He was wanted for murder in the case of 23-year-old Efren J. Triana of Rochester who was shot several times outside a tavern at the 100 block of West Main Street in Centralia early on Oct. 25, 1986, according to police.

Gutierrez was booked yesterday into the Lewis County Jail.

He is scheduled to go before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

Aromas is in San Benito County in central California not far from the coast.
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Read “Breaking news: Suspect arrested in 1986 Centralia cold case murder” from Wednesday March 23, 2011, here