Lewis County Sirens.com

Detectives comb through debris at a property on Ferrier Road. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Sheriff’s detectives yesterday finished up two days of searching two wells and digging through mounds of garbage at a property south of Winlock after getting tips the body of the missing Kayla Croft-Payne had been dumped there.

Nothing of interest was located except for a dog carcass, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said today.

The Lewis County girl vanished three years ago. She was 18 years old when a missing person report was made, days after her last posting on social network sites.

Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the office had received several tips Croft-Payne had been killed and either buried or tossed down a well at property on the 1500 block of Ferrier Road.

She said the young woman used to hang out with the people who lived there.

The owners gave detectives permission to conduct the search, according to the sheriff’s office. Brown said she didn’t know if the property has changed hands.

The sheriff’s office says the place is known as “the farm” by those who frequent it.

Brown said detectives excavated a 20-foot deep well which had recently been filled with trash and debris. They used a pump to drain a 35-foot deep well.

A neighbor assisted with his backhoe and the detectives worked sixteen hours on Wednesday and Thursday, but turned up nothing, according to Brown.

According to Brown, deputies had received information in the past about the location which was vague, but two new tips in the past three weeks offered more detail.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield said in a prepared statement his people worked diligently and conducted a thorough search.

“This case has been troubling for our office and we still hope to find Kayla and bring closure to her family and friends,” Mansfield stated.

At a gathering the weekend before last at Penny Playground in Chehalis, family and some friends marked the three year anniversary since Croft-Payne disappeared.

Her aunt has connected with a Vancouver, Wash.-based organization that is investigating women and girls exploited by online modeling sites.

Croft-Payne wanted to be a model, and spoke of getting photographs taken for a portfolio.

Earlier this week, the sheriff’s office outlined the lengths it has gone to pursue that lead, noting they now know it was a different modeling site that Croft-Payne used than the one they checked.

Brown says the case has never been dormant, and detectives continue to follow all leads.

The sheriff’s office asks anyone who knows anything about the case to please call them at 360-748-9286 or contact Crime Stoppers of Lewis County, at 1-800-748-6422.

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For background, read “News brief: Model Mayhem website not involved in missing Lewis County girl’s case” from Tuesday May 7, 2013, here

Detectives search a well at a property on Ferrier Road. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

Weston G. Miller hangs his head after hearing a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  Murder defendant Weston G. Miller blinked once and finally lowered his head after he was found guilty as charged today in Lewis County Superior Court.

A jury took a little more than three hours today to convict the 30-year-old Centralia resident of first-degree murder in the shooting death last year of a house guest, 43-year-old David Wayne Carson.

He’ll be back in court next Thursday morning when attorneys will set a sentencing date.

In the trial that began on Monday, jurors and spectators heard that Carson died from two gunshots to his chest, that it occurred at a fairly close range and that Miller claimed self defense.

It happened March 13, 2012 inside Miller’s house on B Street.

What they didn’t hear from witnesses or prosecutors was any explanation for why it happened.

Carson’s girlfriend Sara DeSalvo – has described how she and Carson were inside a bedroom that day and Miller kept coming to the door to tell them to stop arguing.

DeSalvo told jurors Miller knocked on the door and asked her boyfriend to come out for a minute, and as soon as the door closed she heard three shots. Miller told police during an interview he opened the door and Carson charged at him with a rusty kitchen knife so he shot him.

DeSalvo and Carson who were off and on homeless were staying with Miller for a few days in exchange for her doing some house cleaning.

The case has dragged on over a year in part because of questions about Miller’s competency and sanity.

One friend of Miller’s was sitting in the benches behind him when the verdict was read this afternoon.

Carson’s brother, two grown children and other family members have attended most of the trial.

DeSalvo, who said Carson proposed to her the night before he was killed, sat behind his family and cried when the verdict was read.

She said she still doesn’t know why Miller shot her boyfriend.

“I have no idea,” she said.

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For background, read “Centralia murder trial: In the defendant’s own words” from Friday May 10, 2013 at 10:13 a.m., here

Weston G. Miller consults with his lawyer, J.P. Enbody during a recess in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  Jurors yesterday heard Weston G. Miller describe the events inside his Centralia home that led him to pull a 9 mm handgun out of his sweatpants pocket and fire multiple shots at a houseguest.

Miller, 30, is charged with first-degree murder for the March 13, 2012 death of 43-year-old David Wayne Carson.

The trial in Lewis County Superior Court which began on Monday is expected to wrap up today.

The only other person who was in the house on B Street – Carson’s girlfriend Sara DeSalvo – has described how she and Carson were inside a bedroom that day and Miller kept coming to the door to tell them to stop arguing.

The former welder did not take the witness stand, but portions of a two-hour taped interview with police were presented to the jury yesterday.

The fragmented interview suggested Miller was rescuing DeSalvo from getting beaten.

Miller indicated he invited DeSalvo to stay in his home and didn’t know she was bringing a boyfriend with her.

Under questioning by two Centralia police officers, Miller spoke of DeSalvo telling him of the things Carson had done to her and that Carson was the kind of guy who would cut someone’s throat.

He said he heard yelling like DeSalvo was getting “choked out”, went to the bedroom and found Carson with his hands all over her.

“I said wait a minute, this is my house, my kid’s room, this is not happening here,” Miller said.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher has described for jurors that three times Miller came to the bedroom door to confront the couple.

Miller, in his interview with police, said he would then stand outside the door listening to the couple.

At one point, he went to the back of the house to get his gun, he said.

In a portion of the sometimes fuzzy audio, it sounds like Miller told police he heard DeSalvo saying why don’t you just go kill him now and Carson saying shut up, shut up.

Miller described Carson whispering in a deep voice.

The final time was when he fired his gun.

“I opened the door and he was like right there, he came right at me,” Miller said.

With what? he was asked.

“Like a “freaking rusty kitchen knife,” was his reply.

Closing statements will be heard this morning in the Chehalis courtroom.
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For background, read “Centralia murder trial: Self defense or premeditated?” from Thursday May 9, 2013, here

Weston G. Miller stands next to his attorney in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The murder trial of Weston G. Miller continues this morning in a Chehalis courtroom, with a videotape of Miller’s interview with police expected.

Miller, 30, is charged in the March 2012 shooting death of 43-year-old David Wayne Carson who had been staying at his house on B Street in Centralia.

Centralia defense attorney J.P. Enbody has told jurors there’s no doubt his client shot Carson, but contends it was because Carson came at Miller with a knife.

Only one other person was present, Carson’s 46-year-old girlfriend Sara DeSalvo who spent more than two hours on the witness stand, and was repeatedly asked by the judge to focus.

“Again, listen to the question and answer the question that’s asked,” Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey said numerous times.

DeSalvo, at times distraught and at times seemingly irritated by questioning, apologized, saying she knows she talks fast.

Yesterday, jurors heard the pathologist who conducted the autopsy describe a grazing bullet wound on Carson’s left forearm as a probable defensive wound.

Miller was charged last year with first-degree murder in the death. Prosecutors have not offered a motive, but the case got off to a slow start because of questions whether Miller was competent to stand trial.

Police called the afternoon of March 13 to Miller’s house on B Street found Carson dead inside with two bullet wounds in his chest and chased down Miller who had left in a pickup truck. Officers were told Carson and DeSalvo had been arguing and Miller told them to stop.

Jurors have heard that Carson and DeSalvo were off and on homeless after Carson lost his job. After they were kicked out of one Centralia home, DeSalvo asked Miller if they could stay a short time, in exchange for her doing some much needed major house cleaning.

DeSalvo, on Tuesday afternoon and yesterday morning told the court about the week prior and the day of the shooting.

She described Carson, the love of her life, as amiable.

“He never had any disagreements with anybody, he was very soft-spoken and quiet,” DeSalvo said.

She spoke of Miller wanting to be friends with Carson and hanging out smoking pot together.

Under questioning, it became apparent Miller grew weary of his house guest’s arguing.

On the last day, Carson and DeSalvo were in the bedroom and Miller repeatedly knocked on the door and told them to stop fighting.

Weston was being a jerk for no reason, she said.

He knocked on the door one last time, according to DeSalvo.

“He said, ‘hey man, can I talk to you for a minute’,” DeSalvo testified.

Carson kissed her, handed her his pot pipe and opened the bedroom door, she testified.

“As soon as it closed, as soon as I heard it click, I heard pop, pop, pop,” DeSalvo said.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher has told jurors no knife was found in Carson’s hand. Enbody has pointed out three knives found in the guest bedroom where Carson stumbled onto his back and lay dead.

Today, jurors are expected to hear testimony from neighbors who rushed in to the house to see if they could help Carson.

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For background, read “B Street homicide: Defendant says self defense” from Wednesday March 14, 2012, here

Sara DeSalvo sobs on the witness stand.