By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss one of the four cases against Centralia resident Robbie Russell yesterday saying the main witness won’t cooperate.
Robert Shawn Russell
Russell, 46, was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, a black Dodge Caliber found on his property late last year a few weeks after he assisted police in capturing a man wanted for an Olympia murder.
The vehicle belongs to Robert John Maddaus Jr., the 40-year-old being held on charges of witness tampering and first-degree murder in the Olympia case.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office wrote in its motion the victim in the stolen property case sent correspondence advising “he does not wish to testify in this matter, that he has nothing to say and that if called to testify he will ruin the state’s case.”
The motion for order of dismissal without prejudice – meaning it could be refiled at a later date – was granted.
Robert John Maddaus Jr.
Deputy Prosecutor Steve Scott said outside the courtroom later in the day, “It means just what it says.”
Russell remains held in the Lewis County Jail pending three other cases: one from May of this year involving possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver; one from June of this year; and another from the summer of 2009 in which he allegedly took part in an ambush of a group of teenagers camping in Winlock.
In the Winlock case, his co-defendant was David West Sr., one of three people found shot to death last month in an Onalaska-area home.
Maddaus, the alleged victim of the stolen vehicle, is also facing charges in Lewis County related to possession of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Russell, who was with Maddaus last November in the red Corvette where the drugs were found, presumably would be a witness in that case.
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Read more about Robert John Maddaus Jr. and Robert S. Russell here, here and here.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter