Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated 12:25 p.m. Saturday October 8, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod released a tentative schedule today of which witnesses will testify when during the inquest into the controversial 1998 death of former trooper Ronda Reynolds which begins on Monday.

Ronda Reynolds

New to the witness list originally released a little more than a month ago are a friend and co-workers of Ronda Reynolds, the mother of Ron Reynolds, a neighbor, a retired forensic expert C. Vaughn and a set of Lewis County detectives who investigated new leads as recently as last year.

The courtroom is expected to have seating available for 20 members of the public, on a first come, first served basis each day.

It’s been some 50 years since a coroner’s inquest has been held in Lewis County, as best McLeod has been able to figure.

Reynolds, 33, was found dead early on the morning of of Dec. 16, 1998 and the case was closed as a suicide by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office in May of 1999.

She was discovered with a bullet in her head on a closet floor in the Toledo home she shared with her new husband, Toledo Elementary School Principal Ron Reynolds. The couple were separating and she had plans to fly home to her family in Spokane later that morning.

Over the years, the manner of death was changed by the coroner back and forth between suicide and undetermined as it was reinvestigated and then more recently underwent a judicial review.

The inquiry comes as newly elected McLeod has attempted to comply with court orders given to his predecessor, ex-Coroner Terry Wilson.

Not on the witness list are Ron Reynolds and his three sons who were at the house when the first deputy arrived, but have asserted the privilege against self incrimination and are excused by McLeod from appearing.

McLeod today indicated he has set aside the first half of Monday for selection of an inquest jury of five, plus two alternates.

The first of more than 40 witnesses may take the stand after lunch, depending upon how long it takes to seat the panel of jurors, according to McLeod.

The first batch of witnesses are individuals who were on the scene that morning almost 13 years ago, and the later witnesses are primarily experts and individuals who looked at evidence and reports.

McLeod’s tentative schedule has the last witness testifying a week from Tuesday.

The proceedings will be held in Lewis County District Court in Chehalis and begin at 9 a.m. each week day.

Following is the tentative schedule:

Monday Oct. 10
Morning 9 a.m. until noon

• Selection of inquest jury

Monday Oct. 10
Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. until 4:45 p.m.

• Janice Neilsen – emergency medical technician
• Gary Holt – retired Lewis County sheriff’s deputy
• Robert Bishop – former Lewis County sheriff’s deputy
• Steve Aust – Lewis County Sheriff’s Office commander
• Glade Austin – retired Lewis County sheriff’s detective’s sergeant

Tuesday Oct. 11
Morning, 9 a.m. until noon

• Glade Austin, continued
• Dave Neiser – retired Lewis County sheriff’s detective

Tuesday Oct. 11
Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. until 4:45 p.m.

• Jerry Berry – retired Lewis County sheriff’s detective
• Carmen Brunton – former Lewis County coroner’s chief deputy
• Dr. Daniel Selove – forensic pathologist who conducted autopsy
• Joe Doench – retired Lewis County sheriff’s chief criminal deputy
• Gordon Spanski – retired Lewis County undersheriff

Wednesday Oct. 12
Morning, 9 a.m. until noon

• Laurie Hull – friend
• David Bell – friend
• Tom Lahmman – former Toledo School District superintendent

Wednesday Oct. 12
Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. until 4:45 p.m.

• N. Weller – co-worker of deceased
• D. Pearson – co-worker of deceased
• B. Rodriguez, neighbor of deceased
• Juanita Vaughn -friend of deceased
• Cathryn Hatulla (sp) – Ron Reynolds’ ex-wife

Thursday Oct. 13
Morning, 9 a.m. until noon

• Mark Liburdi – decedent’s ex-husband
• Vernon Geberth – homicide expert
• Barbara Thomspon – mother of decedent

Thursday Oct. 13
Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. until 4:45 p.m.

• George Fox – former Attorney General’s Office investigator
• Ronald Wojciechowski – Washington State Patrol crime lab
• Kenneth McDermott – Washington State Patrol crime lab
• David Stritzke – Washington State Patrol crime lab
• C. Vaughn – retired forensic expert
• Joe Upton – handwriting examiner
• Jill Bartlett – Washington State Patrol fingerprint division
• Gary Aschenbach – forensic statement analyst
• Laura Reynolds – mother of Ron Reynolds

Friday Oct. 14
Morning, 9 a.m. until noon

• Marty Hayes – firearms examination
• Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds- pathologist
• Terry Ball – polygraph expert
• Marty Hayes – again, if needed
• Dr. John Demakas – pathologist

Friday Oct. 14
Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

• Steve Birley – polygraph expert
• Rod Englert – forensic expert
• Sherri Murphy – former Washington state trooper

Monday Oct. 17
Morning, 9 a.m. until noon

• Kevin Englebertson – Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective
• Jamey McGinty – Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective
• Bruce Kimsey – Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective
• Dusty Breen – Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective sergeant

Tuesday Oct. 18
Morning, 9 a.m. until noon

• Dusty Breen – continued
• Isabelle Williams – Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, evidence
•••

See the rules governing the procedures for McLeod’s coroner’s inquest, here

For some background and to see the roles some of the above individuals may have played, read “Jury finds coroner erred in ruling former trooper’s death a suicide”, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – John A. Booth Jr.’s lawyer filed a motion today asking that his client’s triple murder trial be moved to a different county because of so much pre-trial publicity by the news media.

John A. Booth Jr.

Booth, 32, is charged with murder and other offenses related to last summer’s gunshot deaths of two men and a teenage boy inside a Salkum-Onalaska area home.

The trial is scheduled to begin November 7 in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis.

Booth’s former cell mate Ryan J. McCarthy was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison, following a plea agreement, for his role in the events of August 21, 2010.

Defense attorney Roger Hunko said he wants a different jury, that hasn’t heard so much about the case.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher says lawyers always make that kind of request.

The two attorneys are set to go in front of a judge on Monday to hash out that and other disagreements such as jury questions, a request to dismiss the attempted extortion charge and what if any of Booth’s criminal past can be brought up at trial.

“The purpose of that (last issue) is so people can be tried not on what they’ve done before, but what they’re charged with,” Hunko said today.

Prosecutors allege Booth and McCarthy visited the house on Wings Way in connection with collecting money for drug debts or a “perceived” debt owed to Robert “Robbie” S. Russell. One of the victims, David West Sr. 52, was a witness in a pending case against Russell.

Also found dead were David West Jr., 16, and a friend Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle. Denise Salts, then 51, who was also at the home survived a gunshot wound to her face.

Booth, formerly of Onalaska, was picked up in Spokane on a $10 million warrant four days after the slayings.

He has since then been held in solitary confinement in the Lewis County Jail.

Twice last month, a sheriff’s detective visited Booth inside the jail and recommended new charges to the prosecutor, once after Booth allegedly “became enraged and began smashing windows” outside his cell and then after guards reportedly found a metal file portion of a fingernail clipper in Booth’s pocket.

Just days before lawyers finalized a plea agreement for McCarthy, Booth allegedly used a metal handle from a mop bucket to break four panes of safety glass, according to the sheriff’s office.

It happened about 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 1, and was captured on surveillance video, according an incident report.

The detective writes that Booth was on his “one hour out” of his cell that day when he walks around in the Pod (adjacent secure and otherwise vacant day room) and attempts to make a phone call.

He uses the broom and dust pan to clean out his cell and then returns to the mop bucket location, detective Dan Riordan writes.

“(H)e removes the yellow squeegee portion of (the mop bucket), examines it for some time and then begins to smash the windows,” Riordan writes.

Then Booth put the implement back down, went into his cell and closed the door, according to Riordan.

When asked about the windows, Booth stated it was “spontaneous combustion,” Riordan wrote.

Jail Chief Kevin Hanson said he didn’t have any reason to think his inmate was attempting to escape.

“I suspect he may have been angry about something,” Hanson said.

The shatter proof glass is three-quarters-inch thick and very durable, according to Hanson.

“I’ve seen people hit, kick, punch and throw stuff at them, but only on three occasions in my 20 years here have I seen the glass break,” he said.

The detective referred the report to the prosecutor for a charge of first-degree malicious mischief, but no charge had been filed as of yesterday.

Neither has a charge been filed of possession of a weapon by a prisoner, recommended by Riordan after a find on Sept. 10.

Jail guards were patting Booth down as they were returning him to his cell after a cell “shakedown” and discovered what appeared to be the file portion from a pair of finger nail clippers Booth had been allowed for temporary use, according to Riordan’s report. It was approximately two-inches long.

Booth said it was nothing and asked for it back, according to the report.

“This item is easily transformed into an instrument that can be used for stabbing, i.e., a prison shank,” the detective wrote.

Also seized by the detective were two handwritten notes from Booth’s cell, one that reads as a poem about a prison shank, and a similar writing about a rifle.

Booth didn’t want to talk with the detective about the nail file, according to the incident report.

Jail Chief Hanson said the replacement cost of the safety glass is close to $4,000 and the county would be seeking restitution from Booth.

Hanson also said Booth has lost all his privileges, such as being able to make purchases at the jail commissary.

He now is locked down in his cell 24 hours a day, except for one hour out every three days, Hanson said.

Booth is charged with attempted extortion, attempted murder of Salts, second-degree murder of West Sr. and first degree murder of David Jr. and Williams, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm.

•••
Read most recent story, “Court hearing reveals more details about Salkum triple slaying” from Saturday October 1, 2011, here