Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Pe Ell man who drove his pickup truck into a house shortly after New Year’s Eve injuring a couple who were in their bed will spend eight months in the Lewis County Jail after a plea agreement was finalized yesterday.

Brian T. Zock apologized to 73-year-old Normand Moreau before Zock was sentenced yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court.

“It was a horrible thing,” Zock said. “It should have never happened, I know better.”

Zock admitted to driving drunk.

Th 26-year-old was initially charged with vehicular assault, but attorneys worked out a deal on lesser charges that came with a long list of penalties.

Judge Richard Brosey called the acts irresponsible and atrocious.

Zock’s Ford pickup broke through a wall at the Moreau’s house on North Third Street in Pe Ell at about 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Firefighters found Mary Moreau, 71, knocked out of the bed and onto the floor of the bathroom. Normand Moreau was still on the mattress but pushed up against the wall in a room that was described as looking like a bomb went off in it.

Normand Moreau yesterday told Zock he accepted his apology, but said his wife’s injuries mean she might need surgery and he may lose a kidney.

The couple has more than $70,000 in medical bills and might have to file for bankruptcy, Normand Moreau said.

“I don’t sleep at night, until 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock in the morning,” he said. “We fear for our lives.”

Centralia attorney J.P. Enbody, who represented Zock, told the judge his client realizes he and alcohol don’t mix.

“I think he’s committed to making sure this doesn’t happen again,” Enbody said.

Zock pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and driving under the influence.

Besides the jail time, monetary penalties and restitution, Zock will lose his license for two years, be allowed to drive only with an ignition interlock devise after that and be required to undergo alcohol treatment.

A portion of the sentence was suspended for five years.

Brosey prohibited Zock from consuming alcohol or even going inside a bar or tavern for five years.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher indicated the agreed upon deal was useful as leverage to motivate Zock to avoid drinking and driving.

“He’s got 275 days (in jail) hanging over his head for five years,” Meagher said. “We’ve got him under our thumb for five years.”

It’s Zock’s second DUI conviction and his second felony incident involving alcohol.

He made a so-called Alford plea to first-degree animal cruelty after a July 2006 incident in which he – with two other young men – allegedly got drunk and shot up several cows around Pe Ell and then partially butchered some of them.

Zock’s statement at sentencing in that case noted he had very little memory due to alcohol consumption causing a blackout.

He was taken into custody when the hearing ended yesterday.

Zock’s wife and other family members were present in the Chehalis courtroom.

“He’s had problems,” his father Mike Zock said. “He was doing good … This will sure cure that.”

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Read “Vehicle crashes into Pe Ell bedroom overnight; two injured” from Saturday Jan. 1, 2011, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A firearm connected with the August triple-homicide in the Salkum-Onalaska area has turned up, attorneys in the case said today.

“They just found the gun apparently, or what they think is the gun, in Spokane,” Olympia lawyer Rick Cordes said this afternoon.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told a judge today they found a firearm and they’re doing lab tests on it.

Meagher didn’t offer further details during a brief hearing today or outside the courtroom, except that police found it.

Ryan J. McCarthy, 29, of Redmond, and John Allen Booth Jr., 31, are charged with murder and other crimes in the August 21 shootings that left three people dead and one woman seriously wounded.

Booth was captured in Spokane by U.S. marshals four days after the slayings. He had been staying at the home of a man who likely didn’t know he was being sought for murder, marshals said at the time.

McCarthy’s lawyer, Cordes, said he wasn’t aware of any evidence of more than one gun involved, besides the shotgun belonging to one of the victims, David J. West Sr.

Today’s hearing in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis was scheduled so both parties could update a judge on progress in McCarthy’s case.

Both sides agreed to delay his trial until mid-October.

Meagher said part of the reason for the postponement was to wait for test results on the weapon. Cordes said after the hearing he is also still waiting on reports on lab tests on various pieces of evidence.

McCarthy’s trial is now set for the week of Oct. 10.

Booth’s trial is currently scheduled for the week of May 16.

The two men are charged with murder and extortion in connection with the slayings of West Sr. 52, his son David J. West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle, at the West’s home. Booth is also charged with the attempted murder of 51-year-old Denise Salts who lived there.

Authorities have said they believe the two men’s visit to the house on Wings Way off Gore Road was related to a drug debt collection.

Booth’s charges include aggravated murder for the deaths of West Jr. and Williams, making his a potential death penalty case.

Prosecutors have yet to announce a decision on if they will seek the death penalty for Booth, a former Onalaska resident.
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Read the most recent previous news story on the case, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police say a 25-year-old woman they arrested today gave birth to a baby about halfway through her pregnancy and then cut off its head with a knife.

Officers arrested Laura Lynn Hickey, 25, of Centralia, and booked her into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree murder.

Today’s arrest follows a week-long investigation into an incident that began at the Peppertree Motor Inn and RV Park on Alder Street in Centralia.

Neighbors called 911 just before 1 a.m. last Wednesday after hearing Hickey calling for help from her residence, according to police.

She was taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital where she told doctors she was having a miscarriage, police said. The examination revealed she had given birth, and she said she spontaneously aborted the fetus during the night, according to police.

Centralia police say she admitted giving birth, and emergency room staff immediately called police and emergency responders to check the welfare of a possible fetus at the woman’s home.

Officers found the deceased male baby in a container under the sink.

Hickey lives in a fifth-wheel trailer at the RV park.

Centralia Police Officer John Panco said Hickey had said she was about 21 weeks along in her pregnancy. The pathologist confirmed she was roughly 21 weeks along, Panco said today.

Panco said the preliminary findings from an autopsy indicated the baby was alive at the time of its birth. The examination also indicated it suffered fatal injuries, decapitation, that were intentionally inflicted, according to Panco.

“A knife was used,” he said.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said today he expects to charge Hickey with “at least” first-degree murder.

“The pathologist said it appeared the baby was born alive and was a viable fetus,” Meyer said.

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office said today neither they, nor the forensic pathologist Dr. Emmanuel Lacsina have made a determination on the cause or manner of death.

Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris said the autopsy was conducted last week.

They are awaiting toxicology and microscopic test, procedures routinely done with autopsies, according to Harris. The results could take at least eight weeks, she said.

Panco said Hickey named the boy Caleb Jacob Hickey.

He said she has three children who don’t live with her, as they have been taken into state custody.

Hickey was interviewed at the police station today and then taken to the jail in Chehalis.

Meyer said she is expected to go before a judge tomorrow afternoon.

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Read “News brief: ‘Remains’ found under sink after apparent miscarriage to be examined by coroner” from Wednesday March 2, 2011 at 11:28 a.m. here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chehalis police say a man who made the news last night for calling 911 after he broke into a Portland area home to take a shower – and feared the arriving homeowner’s dogs outside the bathroom door – was picked up overnight at Wal-Mart.

Timothy J. Chapek, 24, of Beaverton, Ore., pushed a loaded shopping cart out an emergency exit at Wal-Mart in Chehalis last night and began unloading almost $1,200 of merchandise into a stolen BMW, according to Chehalis police.

Detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said officers called about 12:25 a.m. to the retailer on Northwest Louisiana Avenue found Chapek outside the garden center.

“It was everything,” McNamara said about the stolen goods, listing off items such as stereo speakers, tools, clothing, “lots of clothing.”

Chapek had also allegedly gone behind a counter and tried to get into a cash register, which upgraded his offense from shoplifting to burglary, for going into a place not open to the public, McNamara said.

The “really nice, expensive, new” BMW was found to be stolen from a car dealership in Beaverton, McNamara said.

The sergeant said Chapek had been booked for the incident in Portland, but was released from jail. He is currently in the Lewis County Jail, booked for second-degree burglary and possession of stolen property.

The Oregonian reported last night Chapek and the Portland homeowner both called 911 about 7 p.m. on Monday night; the 24-year-old reportedly confessed what he’d done in and said he feared the homeowner outside the bathroom door might have a gun.