Lewis County Sirens.com

Janet L. Anderson, in red, is led out of the courtroom and back down to the Lewis County Jail after bail hearing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Evidence so far suggests a 41-year-old Centralia man was shot once in his back and once at the base of his skull as long as 12 hours before his wife turned herself in to police and said they would find his body in the bedroom of their north Centralia home.

Ty W. Anderson was indeed located there, wrapped inside a tarp, according to authorities.

The residence off of West Oakview Avenue in the Hunter’s Walk neighborhood was then examined by detectives on Saturday but the scene investigation is ongoing, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Janet L. Anderson, 39, was arrested after she spoke with police on Saturday morning and charged today with second-degree murder.

She reportedly told police that after two hours of fighting, she shot her husband because he grabbed his gun and was pointing it at her, according to charging documents.

She also said she cleaned him up, covered him up and wrapped him up so he wouldn’t be cold, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead wrote in court documents.

Evidence indicates she washed clothing and bedding and bathed herself as well as patched what looked to be a bullet exit hole through an exterior wall, before driving to the Centralia police station and calling 911 about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to Halstead.

Anderson was brought before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis where prosecutors asked she be held on $1 million bail.

She has no income of her own, doesn’t work and has no criminal history, the judge was told. Judge Richard Brosey gave her a court appointed lawyer.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said she requested the high bail because Anderson might be a flight risk and also because of the interference with the administration of justice. It appears cleanup was done during the 12 hours between the alleged homicide and the reporting of it, she said.

Neither Centralia police nor the court documents offer any other explanation for the shooting.

Neighbors and police say the couple have two children who lived with them there, a teenage son who was at a sporting event on Saturday morning and a younger daughter who was with her grandparents. Centralia police detective John Panco on Saturday didn’t indicate he thought the kids had been home when it happened.

Next door neighbor Jim Murphy said he and his wife heard a “horrible bang pop” around 9 or 10 o’clock on Friday night; she thought it was a gunshot, he thought it was something different.

Charging documents state that police were advised about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, a woman was on the line with 911, saying she’d killed her husband, that she would be parked in front of the Centralia Police Department in a white mini van.

She spoke with a sergeant and told him, among other things, that her gun was on her night stand and her husband’s gun could be found under a towel because she was afraid her son might come home and see it.

Two officers who were given the keys to the home found nobody else inside, only Ty Anderson wrapped in a tarp in the bedroom, according to the documents.

When detectives conducted their investigation, they found what would be the wife’s firearm, a five-shot revolver with four spent shell casings and one live round inside the cylinder, Halstead wrote.

The other gun was on the floor, on the other side of the bed, partially wrapped in a towel, according to Halstead. The semi automatic, single-action pistol had a loaded magazine inserted and an empty chamber; the hammer was in the forward position not ready to fire, according to Halstead.

An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.

The initial examination of the body however showed at least two bullet entry wounds, according to charging documents, one in the lower back and the other at the base of the back of the neck. X-rays taken by the Lewis County Corner’s Office show what appear to be the two bullets lodged inside his body, according to charging documents.

The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine plus restitution and assessments.

Centralia defense attorney Shane O’Rourke is going to be representing Anderson. Her arraignment is set for Thursday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.
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For background, read “Saturday December 17, 2016” from Centralia: Man dead, woman jailed for murder, here

Police assemble at the scene of a homicide in the Hunter’s Walk neighborhood today.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police are investigating a homicide at a home in a north Centralia neighborhood and have detained a suspect.

Officers were notified about 8:30 a.m. today.

“The suspect contacted us at the police station, she called 911 and said she needed to talk with someone,” detective John Panco said.

Officers went to her residence off of West Oakview Avenue and confirmed a man inside was dead, according to Panco.

The woman was interviewed and taken to the Lewis County Jail, Panco said.

Early information from the Centralia Police Department indicated it was a death by gunshot, but detectives are still processing the crime scene this afternoon.

Panco didn’t reveal what the woman told investigators. He didn’t release any names this afternoon.

Across the street neighbor Will Fitzmorris said he woke up this morning to see yellow police tape across the front of the house, and a patrol car parked in front.

A man, a woman and two children moved in there in recent years, he said.

Next door neighbor Jim Murphy knows the family a little.

“She is the nicest person and they have swell kids,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he and his wife heard a noise while they were rearranging furniture around 9 or 10 o’clock last night. His wife asked him if it sounded like a gunshot, he said.

“I said no, it sounded like something, somebody slammed real hard,” he said.

The pale yellow modular home is in a neighborhood called Hunter’s Walk.

This afternoon, the Centralia Police Department’s crime scene van is parked on the narrow street. Detectives were inside collecting evidence and getting photographs, according to Panco.

“I can’t give you much information as far as how it happened, what happened,” Panco said.

He didn’t yet know what the woman would be booked for, but expected he would have more details to release before the end of the day.

The Lewis County Jail’s online roster indicates a Janet L. Anderson was booked around 11:45 a.m. today for second-degree murder.

Update: Panco acknowledged in a news release at about 11 p.m. that Anderson, 39 years old, was their suspect.

Police tape is stretched across the front of Centralia home where police are investigating homicide.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities are still trying to track down next-of-kin for the homeless man who died outdoors in freezing temperatures this week, but want in the meantime to share some information to allay fears of those who have family members living on the streets.

He was 57 years old and has been residing in the Centralia area for perhaps a year and half, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said this morning. He has also spent time in Aberdeen, he said.

McLeod wants to find and notify his relatives of the death, before releasing the man’s name to the public.

“I’ve gotten calls from three families who have people on the streets,” McLeod said. “It causes a lot of stress for people who have family in that situation.”

Authorities initially revealed very little after he was found dead on Wednesday morning in Centralia’s Rotary Riverside Park off Harrison Avenue. An autopsy confirmed he died of hypothermia from the cold.

Centralia Police Department detective Corey Butcher said he was discovered at one of the covered picnic areas, with all of his belongings, sleeping bag, backpack, food and such.

It’s a sad thing, McLeod said.

“In 2016, in the U.S., one of the most developed countries in the world, that you can curl up and go to sleep and die,” McLeod said.

Temperatures were at 32 degrees in the Twin Cities for most of that night.

McLeod said the dead man’s information lists him as 6-feet tall and 215 pounds. A recent jail booking photo shows him with long black hair, somewhat balding in front and with graying facial hair, he said.

No missing person reports have been found for him, but a check with a nationwide law enforcement database shows he’s had contacts with police in several states, McLeod said.

Those places include, Illinois, Las Vegas, Arizona, Florida and southern California, according to McLeod.
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For background, read “News brief: Man without a home basically froze to death” from Thursday December 15, 2016, here