Lewis County Sirens.com

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

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Final results show Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield won the Nov. 2 election with five percentage points above his challenger, a sergeant in his office.

“The people have decided they want me as their sheriff, so I’m here to serve them another four years,” Mansfield said yesterday after the election was certified.

Steve Mansfield

The people’s choice wasn’t quite so clear on election night, with the initial count giving the incumbent sheriff 51.5 percent of the votes.

Sgt. Ken Cheeseman’s showing took many by surprise as less than three months earlier in the primary, Cheeseman had secured only about about 41 percent of the votes.

Cheeseman yesterday said it was a very interesting, educational and fun experience.

“I just thank all the people that voted for me, that helped and were willing to help,” the Randle Republican said.

Ken Cheeseman

It was a real close race, Cheeseman said. That surprised the first-time candidate for public office a little, since any incumbent sheriff ought to have been able to win by a landslide, he said.

“You’d expect the outcome, if he had the support of his peers, his staff and his organization, it would have been huge, but it wasn’t,” Cheeseman said.

He ran because he knew there were people who wanted change, and hopefully the sheriff heard the message behind the closeness of the race, Cheeseman said.

The final tally gave Mansfield 52.44 percent with 14,887 votes and Cheeseman 47.56 percent with 13,500 votes.

Voter turnout was almost 75 percent, much higher than longtime Lewis County Auditor Gary Zandell had expected. Zandell said he had predicted it would be closer to 68 percent or maybe 69 percent.

There were roughly 31,400 ballots cast in a county with a population of some 74,000 people.

An election year is a time to sort out and talk about differences, said Mansfield, who was first elected to the office five years ago after being appointed almost a year earlier to fill out the term of former Sheriff John McCrosksy.

Mansfield, who calls himself a steward of the office, said the ballot numbers suggested to him some of the public was disenchanted with what they were led to believe were problems between his office and the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, and were thinking they weren’t being served.

“I can assure you that was not the case with the sheriff’s office,” he said.

His people have been confronted with one challenge after another this year, including seven homicides, a days-long search for the victims of a fatal plane crash, and handled it well all despite being down 20 positions, Mansfield said.

“Yet we’re still out there making a positive difference in this county,” he said.

Mansfield said he’s especially pleased that while those who work for him lined up on both sides of the race, it didn’t become so divisive as to affect the sheriff’s office achieving its mission.

“I just go back to, I’m really proud of the people who work here, and how they conducted themselves during the process,” he said.

The Winlock Republican also noted he couldn’t be happier the election resulted in a new prosecutor.

“We’re ready to move on and start this new chapter,” he said.
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See all the final election results here

Read election night news story, “Mansfield leads, but sheriff’s race undecided” here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Charges have been increased to first-degree murder for the man who opened fire on two suspected burglars at his Onalaska house last April killing one of them.

Ronald A. Brady

Ronald A. Brady, 60, was initially charged with first-degree manslaughter for the death of Thomas McKenzie, 56, of Morton and first-degree assault of McKenzie’s estranged wife Joanna McKenzie, but an amended information has been filed in Lewis County Superior Court.

“Just based on the facts of the case,” Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes said today of the thinking behind the change.

According to charging documents, Brady admitted shooting at the pair outside his house he was renovating on the 2100 block of state Route 508, describing to deputies opening his garage door and finding two flashlights shined in his face.

He told sheriff’s detectives he was staying overnight at the unoccupied house in case burglars from earlier in the day returned. Brady resides in a nearby rental home.

Elected Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden wasn’t in today, but Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher described the reason for the the upgraded charge this way:

“This guy laid in wait, based on what the deputies said, he throws the garage door open and, bam,” Meagher said.

The change brings to six the number of homicides this year in Lewis County which have brought first-degree murder charges. No one has been charged in a seventh homicide that occurred earlier this year.

While McKenzie’s death occurred April 19, Brady was not charged until almost the end of September.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield, after his office’s investigation was finished in mid-July, announced he concluded Brady’s use of deadly force was justified and that he would not arrest the homeowner. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, however, passed the case on to the prosecutor for his review.

Brady remains free on a $50,000 unsecured appearance bond.

First-degree murder is a class A felony with a possible penalty of life in prison and a $50,000 fine. Its elements include intent and premeditation.

The amended charge was filed last Thursday.

Brady, a retired bachelor who used to work as an electrical engineer at The Boeing Co. according to his landlord, is represented by Centralia defense attorney Don Blair.

He’s been renting from neighbors Jack and Sharon Tipping for about 15 years, following a fire at his nearby state Route 508 house.

A trial date was set for the week of Jan. 10. It is expected to last five days.

Brady’s defense is general denial and self defense, according to documents filed in his case.

Thomas McKenzie died from a gunshot wound to his chest and leaves behind nine children and other family members.

Joanna McKenzie, 32, escaped the gunfire on April 19 without injury, but she was charged with and made a so-called Alford plea to attempted burglary, not admitting guilt.

As a first-time offender, she was sentenced last month to 15 days in Lewis County Jail.

However, she was jailed last night after police say they found methamphetamine and stolen property from a shoplifting spree during a traffic stop in Centralia.

She hasn’t yet served her 15 days, according to Deputy Prosecutor Kjell Warner. She was charged today with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Joanna McKenzie’s bail was set at $20,000 today.
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Other homicides in Lewis County in 2010

• Morton teenager: Austin King, 16, of Morton, was found on a logging dead with a cracked skull on July 20 a month after he disappeared from his home. An acquaintance, Jack Arnold Silverthorne, 20, of Renton, was charged Nov. 10 with first-degree murder.

• Frost Road Trailer Park: Jackie Marie Lawyer, 64, of Winlock, was fatally shot the morning of Nov. 4 in the Frost Road Trailer Park where she lived. A neighbor Richard Joseph Frank Roth, 65, was arrested the same day and charged Nov. 5 with first-degree murder.

• Salkum-Onalaska triple slaying: David J. West Sr. 52, his son David J. West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle, were fatally shot at the West’s home on Aug. 21. Two men are charged in the case, that included a fourth gunshot victim who survived. John Allen Booth Jr., 31, Onalaska, was charged Aug 23 with three counts of first-degree murder but the charges were upgraded on Oct. 1 to aggravated first-degree murder for the deaths of the younger West and Williams. Ryan McCarthy, 29 of Redmond, was charged Sept 3 with three counts of first-degree felony murder.

• Randle homicide: Guy LaFontaine, 58, of Federal Way, died from injuries following an assault the evening of March 13 at the 11,000 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Randle. A relative was initially arrested and booked for second-degree murder, but was released and no charges have been filed.
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Read previous story on Ronald Brady for more details of what prosecutor’s believe occurred:

• “Onalaska man charged in April’s fatal shooting of suspected burglar” from Sept. 24, 2010 here