By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Prosecutors charged Bernard K. Howell III with first-degree murder today, in connection with Sunday’s slaying of a 60-year-old woman he said he found dead on the bicycle path known as the Yelm to Tenino Trail.
Bernard K. Howell III
The 26-year-old Tenino man is expected back in Thurston County Superior Court tomorrow afternoon where a judge will likely be asked to order him evaluated at Western State Hospital. A deputy prosecuting attorney has already told a judge Howell has a history of mental health problems.
The victim, Vanda Skau Boone, who recently moved to Yelm died Sunday from a cut throat and blunt force injuries to her head and neck.
Howell, whose family calls him Keith, was arrested Sunday night in Tenino when law enforcement officers pulled him over near the elementary school and found Boone’s body wrapped in a sleeping bag in the passenger compartment of his Nissan pickup truck. He said he was going to bury her and save the family the cost of a funeral.
Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Jim Powers this afternoon initially filed charges of aggravated first-degree murder and first-degree rape. Shortly before 5 p.m. Powers said the office amended the charges down.
They decided to go the more conservative route and wait for more definite and clear medical evidence, Powers said.
Howell, who operates the Tenino Meat Co. has no criminal history.
His father, Bernard Howell Jr. says his son has lived with him off and on and most recently for the past two or three months. Before that he lived in Lakewood.
Howell Jr. said he is hoping his only son gets some mental health help.
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To read previous stories, see below.
• “Tenino body update: Yelm, New York woman’s throat cut, coroner says” click here
• “Man found with dead body in truck in Tenino has history of mental health problems, attorney says” click here
• “News brief: Man pulled over in Tenino with dead woman inside his truck” click here