Archive for March, 2011

Breaking news: Victims of Winlock suspected murder-suicide named

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office has released the names of the family who were found dead in their Winlock-area home Tuesday night.

They are Rodney Walter, 57, Cathy Lee Walter, 65 and their 18-year-old son Devon Walter.

The Walter’s, their three dogs and a cat were found dead of apparent gunshots in what the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office believes was a double murder and suicide.

•••

Read “Winlock family and pets shot dead in suspected murder-suicide” from Wednesday March 16, 2011, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

CHIMNEY FIRE

• Firefighters were called about 6:30 p.m. yesterday to a home on the 100 block of Joppish Road in Centralia when flames escaped through an older chimney and got into the framework around it. One of the four individuals at the house took a garden hose to it and began pulling away some boards, but the fire still left an estimated $25,000 damage, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Greg Schwartz.

ASSAULTS

• A 31-year-old Chehalis man who was jailed for allegedly slapping a fellow patron of the Star Tavern on the back of the head – misdemeanor assault – early Tuesday found himself arrested again last night for allegedly spitting on a jail guard. Chehalis police were called over to the Lewis County Jail about 10 p.m. and arrested inmate Kyle E. Connors for third-degree assault – a felony, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called about 12:20 p.m. yesterday to a home where a teenager showed up and chased his 17-year-old acquaintance through the house and allegedly kicked and punched him. The subject then took $60 on his way out of the residence on the 300 block of Southeast Valley View Way, according to Chehalis police. No arrest had been made as of this morning and police were “still trying to figure out what the deal was,” according to Deputy Chief Randy Kaut.

THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 10:30 a.m. yesterday about money stolen from a business on the 2800 block of Russell Road.

• Centralia police were called just before 10 p.m. last night about money stolen from a residence on the 100 block of Virginia Drive.

Breaking news: Winlock family and pets shot dead in suspected murder-suicide

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
2011.0316.three.dead.winlock_2

A mother, father and 18-year-old son were found dead of apparent gunshots.

This was updated at 8:39 a.m. and 10:25 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three members of a family and their pets were found dead of apparent gunshots in a Winlock-area home last night in what the sheriff’s office believes was a double murder and suicide.

Deputies and aid were called to a house on the 300 block of Frost Road about 9:15 p.m. and detectives were on the scene until around 9 a.m. this morning.

The dead are a father, 57, mother, 65, and an 18-year-old son, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Their names have not been released.

Three dogs and a cat belonging to the family were also fatally shot, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

Brown said there did not seem to be any forced entry into the house.

Preliminary information indicates they hadn’t been heard from since Sunday, according to Brown. An adult daughter from Tacoma who went to check on them found them last night, she said.

Brown didn’t offer any details about why detectives suspect one of them was the shooter other than to say, ” … right now, from our experience and training, that’s what it appears.”

A firearm was discovered at the scene, she said.

Brown said they weren’t speculating as to the reasons.

“Detectives will continue investigating, talking to witnesses, family members, to get a better idea of what happened,” she said.

Brown said she believes the father was a long-haul trucker.

The sheriff’s office was assisted by a team from the Washington State Patrol.

Autopsies are scheduled for tomorrow, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.

Green Hill: Juvenile inmate may have fled hours before he was missed

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An undivulged number of staff members at Green Hill School have been reassigned during an investigation into the November escape of a 16-year-old inmate.

Chehalis police were told the boy was last checked on at about 5 a.m. on Nov. 8 and discovered missing from his room about 6:30 a.m.

After he was captured, however, the youth told detectives he had climbed out his window about 10:15 p.m. the night before, taken wire cutters from an unlocked building and fled through a hole he cut in the fence, according to charging documents.

The now-17-year-old boy is set to be arraigned this week on first-degree escape and other charges following the November incident at the state juvenile detention facility in south Chehalis.

Michael A. Lavallie was incarcerated at Green Hill for possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude a police vehicle.

Normal procedures are for head counts to be done hourly, according to Criss Stewart, a manager at Green Hill.

Green Hill Superintendent Marybeth Queral said yesterday she requested an outside investigation to see if there were policy violations and at what level.

“Those are the facts being investigated; when did he leave, when was he checked on, who was responsible,” Queral said.

The Washington State Patrol is conducting the investigation, she said.

Lavallie was picked up in Yelm three weeks after he escaped and remains at Green Hill. He was set to be released in July of next year, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Last week, he was charged as an adult in Lewis County Superior Court.

Charging documents in his case say he told Chehalis police detectives he dug the rubber out from around his cell window with his comb and pencil and shook the metal bars until the screws were loose enough he could remove them.

He was in the “Hawthorne” unit.

Lavallie said he first tried to use a rake he found to help him climb over the fence but when that didn’t work, went to the vocational shop building and got two pairs of wire cutters, according to the charging documents.

Police, deputies and troopers who converged on the neighborhood discovered an Isuzu Trooper had been stolen from the 300 block of Chehalis Avenue. The youth allegedly told police he dumped the vehicle in Rainier because it was having transmission troubles. He then went to stay with his father on Hobby Street, according to charging documents.

Lavallie has previous addresses from places such as Tenino, Rainier, Olympia and Roy, according to Chehalis police.

He was captured on Nov. 29 by a Thurston County sheriff’s deputy who followed a vehicle in Yelm which was registered the boy’s sister.

Lavallie is also charged with theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree burglary, third-degree theft and third-degree malicious mischief.

Green Hill School is a medium and maximum secure facility for older juvenile boys incarcerated for felonies and operated by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, under the state Department of Social and Health Services.

It sits on some 45 acres between Interstate 5 and Southwest Pacific Avenue north of Southwest Parkland Street. It currently holds about 182 residents and employes about 250 people.

Queral became its superintendent in the fall of 2007 and about a year ago, was made the superintendent also of Maple Lane School in Grand Mound.

Queral said she couldn’t speak to the specifics about the incident during the active administrative investigation, and said she didn’t know when it would be completed.

Depending on the results, she will probably conduct an internal investigation afterward, she said.

She declined to say how many employees were reassigned because of the escape, only that it is more than one.

The last escape from Green Hill was in early 2003 when two residents were apprehended in the area within less than an hour after climbing over the razor-wired fence.

•••

Read “Search for Green Hill escapee moves into south Thurston County” from Monday Nov. 8, 2010, here

Read “Green Hill escapee picked up near Yelm” from Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010, here

News brief: Detectives called out to Winlock area

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Sheriff’s detectives are investigating “a scene” in South Lewis County.

Aid and deputies were called about 9 p.m. to a report of someone unconscious in the Winlock area.

Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber said just before midnight they are investigating a scene and that’s all he would say.

More later

Registered sex offender notice: Man registers as homeless in Lewis County

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office announced last week a 50-year-old local level two sex offender is now registered as living homeless in Lewis County.

Sheldon M. Moren is not wanted by law enforcement, but notification to the community is meant to inform the public and enhance public safety, according to the sheriff’s office.

Moren is not new to the area. He has previously lived in Chehalis. He was just released from jail on unrelated charges, according to detective Jamey McGinty

He was convicted in 1989 for indecent liberties related to two different 9-year-old children, according to the sheriff’s office. Each involved contact of a sexual nature.

One victim was a boy he is related to and the other a girl who was known to him, according to McGinty.

Moren is designated as a level two sex offender, meaning the sheriff’s office believes he is a clear risk to the community. Those at the highest risk to reoffend are labeled level three.

Moren is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Because Moren has no permanent address, he is required to check in with Detective McGinty weekly.

To see more details and a photo of Moren, visit the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Offender Watch page, here.

Questions? The sheriff’s office says call 360-748-9286 for detective Brad Borden or Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber.
•••

To search for registered sex offenders living within a specified radius from your home, work or school, visit the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Offender Watch page, here.  There, you can also find safety tips and other information, as well as register to receive email alerts if a new offender registers with an address near you. The same link can always be found on the sidebar of Lewis County Sirens.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

CHEHALIS OFFICER “SPUN AROUND” BY FLEEING VEHICLE

• A Centralia woman who was uncooperative during a traffic stop reportedly drove away while a Chehalis police officer was leaning into her vehicle, causing him to be spun around literally 360 degrees last night, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The woman continued north on Interstate 5, exited at Harrison Avenue and collided with a parked box truck before she was detained, according to police. Kimberlee A. Mott, 54, was arrested and booked into jail for first-degree assault and a variety of other offenses, including driving with a suspended license and attempting to elude, detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said this morning. It began with a traffic infraction at Chamber of Commerce Way near the onramp to Interstate 5 at about 12:20 a.m., McNamara said. Officer Warren Ayers was attempting to take her out of her truck, McNamara said. “I think he was trying to turn the vehicle off and while she was struggling, she hit the gas,” he said. Mott was taken into custody with the help of Centralia officers, according to police. McNamara said he didn’t believe Ayers was injured, but didn’t know if was bruised or something similar. Mott was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with a cut to her hand, presumably from the wreck, he said.

STOLEN VEHICLES

• Chehalis police were called about 7:30 a.m. yesterday to Northeast Cascade Avenue about a stolen Nissan pickup truck.

• A 1992 Honda Accord stolen out of Thurston County was found yesterday on a logging road off the 1100 block of Brown Road West outside Chehalis, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

THEFT

• Chehalis police were called yesterday afternoon from Southeast Aust Manor Drive about someone trying to use an individual’s father’s credit card information.

GAS LEAK

• Firefighters stood by yesterday afternoon while technicians made a temporary repair to a laking gas line at the 800 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia. Puget Sound Energy said the old line had been leaking for awhile and neighbors said they had been smelling it for months, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Terry Ternan.