Archive for December, 2010

Murder trial in Morton teen’s death planned for June

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

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

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.

2010.1110.silverthorne.mug_2

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.
•••

• 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.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

GRINCH AT WORK IN LEWIS COUNTY?

• The sheriff’s office reports deputies have responded to three different cases of Christmas decorations getting stolen from people’s yards in the past two days, including inflatable Frosty and Mickey Mouse as well as lighted reindeer. Yesterday, deputies took reports of thefts from Newaukum Golf Drive and Wind River Drive in the Chehalis area, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The day before, an inflatable Santa Claus was reported missing from the 2700 block of Jackson Highway, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

DRUGS

• Centralia police responding to a call of a suspicious person in the area of the 1100 block of H Street yesterday afternoon arrested a 34-year-old Centralia man for possession of methamphetamine. Steve P. Kirby was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 34-year-old Chehalis resident was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after a traffic stop about 11 p.m. last night on the 400 block of West Main Street in Centralia. Taneal L. Young  was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

SMASHED CAR WINDOW

• An officer was called to the 600 block of West Third Street yesterday evening where an individual reported a window in his car was smashed. A rock was found inside the vehicle, according to Centralia police.

CRASH ON INTERSTATE 5

• An adult female was hospitalized after a single-vehicle rollover accident on Interstate 5 north of Centralia yesterday. West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Battalion Chief Jake Yake said firefighters were called in the late afternoon to the southbound lanes of the freeway just south of Great Wolf Lodge and the driver was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with minor injuries.

News brief: Hay catches fire inside dairy milking parlor

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Fire investigator Ted McCarty said yesterday there were actually two dairy farm fires in Lewis County recently.

Misty Morning Dairy in Onalaska lost a tractor and tons of hay on Thanksgiving night, but a dairy in Randle faced a fire inside its milking parlor a week earlier, according to McCarty.

As an employee was bringing in the cows at Cowlitz Meadows Dairy on Skinner Road on Nov. 16, he noticed hay in the loft above was on fire, McCarty said.

A bale had fallen against a lighting fixture, according to McCarty. It was quickly put out and no cows were lost, he said.

Read about examination of bail bond practices such as Jail Sucks Bail Bonds’ in Chehalis …

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Seattle Times reports members of a task force contemplating changes in the bail bond industry were surprised to learn defendants sometimes pay less than 10 percent – such as Maurice Clemmons who cut deals with several agencies including Jail Sucks Bail Bond Co. in Chehalis before he shot four Lakewood police officers last year.

The group could not agree on what changes should be made in a competitive and mostly unregulated marketplace, according to news reporter Jonathan Martin.

Read the Seattle Times news story here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

STRANDED HUNTER SPENDS NIGHT OUTDOORS OUTSIDE RANDLE

• A 55-year-old hunter whose pickup truck got stuck in the snow outside Randle walked 10 and a half miles into town yesterday after spending the night in his vehicle in the woods, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The man’s girlfriend had called 911 about 9:40 p.m. on Monday and said he was overdue while hunting in an area off Cline Road. Deputies were not able to locate him but had been told he was outfitted with appropriate clothing and an emergency hunting pack, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. A deputy spoke with the hunter, an Olympia resident, yesterday evening who said he had retrieved his pickup truck from Forest Service Road 26 and got home safely, according to Brown.

GUNPOINT THEFT OF TOYOTA UNDER INVESTIGATION

• Centralia police reported this morning they are on the lookout for a 2003 Toyota Corolla after getting a report on Monday from a Centralia resident who said a man had come to his North Schueber Road home a few days earlier and demanded his car keys at gunpoint. The victim, a man in his 30s, told police he answered a knock on his door and a stranger with a heavy Spanish accent told him to give him his car, according to police. He handed over his keys and the subject drove away, police said. Detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said they are still sorting out the details and don’t believe the reported robbery was random. The vehicle is a white four-door bearing the license plate 583 ZMO. Police ask if anyone sees it to call 911 immediately.

STOLEN POLICE CAR FOUND, TWO ARRESTED

• Two people – including a Tenino woman – were arrested in connection with last week’s theft of an unmarked sheriff’s office car from in front of the home of a sheriff’s office employee, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday. The black 2002 Chevrolet Impala, outfitted with a police radio and emergency lights disappeared from southeast Olympia sometime between the evening of Nov. 23 and 5 a.m. the next day, according to the sheriff’s office. On Monday, deputies and the Olympia Police department got a tip from Crimestoppers. According to a news release yesterday, the car was found at an apartment complex parking lot on the 1200 block of East Street in Lacey. Arrested were Leah F. Moreno, 25, of Tenino, and Daniel K. Conaty, 22, of Olympia.

BURGLARIES

• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning to the 200 block of Riverside Drive where somebody had broken into a vacant house. Nothing was missing, but there were muddy footprints inside, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Centralia police were called just before noon on Monday about a break-in to a building on the 2600 block of Eureka Avenue. Nothing was reported missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MARIJUANA AT SCHOOL

• A 16-year-old student was arrested for possession of marijuana at W.F. West High School in Chehalis on Monday, according to police. He was booked into Lewis County Juvenile Detention, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The amount in question was “not very much”, detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said.

TEENAGERS ON ROOF

• Four teenage boys were arrested for trespass after a neighbor complained they were sitting on the roof of a vacant Chehalis house 15th Street on Monday.

FIGHT WITH PEPPER SPRAY

• A 22-year-old Chehalis man was arrested after he allegedly used pepper spray or something like it on three people in downtown Chehalis. Police were called just before 2 a.m. Sunday to the 400 block of North Market Boulevard where the subject apparently had gotten into a dispute with a female and sprayed her, according to Chehalis police. When a man and woman intervened, he reportedly used it on them as well, detective St. Rick McNamara said. Ryan E. Smith was arrested for fourth-degree assault and then released, according to police. A second call at about the time just up the street of another fight in front of the Code Red bar drew Centralia police officers to assist, McNamara said. No one was arrested following that call, he said. McNamara said it was Code Red’s last night of being open. “It was their last big party, I think,” he said.