By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The former Toledo elementary school principal who was arrested following a coroner’s inquest but not charged with a crime two years ago in connection with his then-wife’s 1998 death has claimed $5 million in damages for what his attorney calls scandalous proceedings that severely harmed his client’s reputation and employability.
Ron Reynolds and one of his sons, Jonathan Reynolds who was similarly affected, blame the Lewis County coroner.
Ron Reynolds
“It’s difficult to put a value on your life when it’s been ruined,” Olympia-based attorney Rick Cordes said today. “The loss of retirement, earnings, your reputation.”
The senior Reynolds, now 62, hasn’t worked since the inquest took place, according to Cordes. Jonathan Reynolds, now 32 and residing in Montesano, might be working now, Cordes said, but he wasn’t sure.
A tort claim filed with the county on behalf of the men in October got no response, leading to a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Lewis County Superior Court. The lawyer representing Coroner Warren McLeod quickly removed the case to federal court.
At issue is the October 2011 coroner’s inquest convened by McLeod, who made a campaign promise the year before to deal with the long controversial death of former state trooper Ronda Reynolds.
Ronda Reynolds, 33, was found with a bullet in her head and covered by a turned-on electric blanket on the floor of a closet in the Toledo home she shared with her husband of less than a year and his three sons.
Jonathan Reynolds
The inquest jury was unanimous in its determinations her death was a homicide and named Ron and Jonathan Reynolds as responsible. McLeod had arrest warrants issued and the two brought before a judge who immediately released them as the prosecutor was not filing criminal charges.
The complaint filed in Lewis County Superior Court on December 6 names Lewis County and Coroner McLeod.
Cordes contends in the filing McLeod had no legal basis for calling the inquest, had no intention to conduct it fairly and that the proceedings were handled negligently and recklessly.
“The actions of the defendant, as described herein, were scandalous and libelous and did severe damage to the plaintiffs’ reputations and integrity,” Cordes wrote.
According to Cordes, the coroner had no jurisdiction over the deceased’s body, from a case almost 13 years earlier. He points to McLeod going forward with arrest warrants even knowing the prosecutor would not be filing charges against anyone and with the sheriff’s office’s investigations all finding the death was a suicide.
Warren McLeod
The complaint claims a major part of McLeod’s election campaign was advising voters he would have Ronda Reynolds’ death be reinvestigated and determined to be homicide, and that the inquest was designed to bring that about and lacked fundamental fairness.
McLeod, elected in November 2010 as the first new county corner in decades, was moving through ambiguously charted territory.
Coroner’s inquests in Washington state are rare, and McLeod, with assistance from Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor David Fine, created and adopted a set of rules to guide the proceedings.
After the Oct. 19, 2011 finding, McLeod issued then quashed his own warrants saying they served no purpose since no charges would be filed, but then he reversed himself, pointing to the state statute that the coroner “shall” issue warrants if the inquest jury ascertains it is a homicide and identifies who is responsible.
On the day the Reynolds’s were brought in front of Judge James Lawler, Cordes shared outside the Chehalis courtroom that his understanding of the law was different, that the statute was originally adopted around 1850 and was designed for the coroner to act when the sheriff was unavailable.
Ronda Reynolds
The inquest and the days that followed it were heavily covered by the local and regional news media, as well as providing the framework for a one-hour documentary produced by CBS television’s 48 Hours Mystery.
The lawsuit, and the claim that preceded it, speak of a great deal of mental and emotional distress as well as public humiliation and crippling financial consequences for the Reynolds’s.
McLeod’s action have made it extremely difficult for the two men to continue to live in their respective communities, according to Cordes.
“Ron was a well-respected member of the community,” Cordes said. “And that’s not true anymore.”
While the claim to the county listed $5 million in damages, the lawsuit asks for an amount to be proven at trial, costs and attorney fees as well as other relief the court may deem just and equitable.
McLeod said today he can’t, on the advice of his attorney, comment on pending litigation.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said he and his staff don’t have a role in the case, because of the possibility of being called as witnesses.
The coroner and the county will be represented by John Justice, whose Tumwater law firm specializes in working with government agencies in civil cases.
Justice is the same lawyer who was hired to represent former Coroner Terry Wilson when Ronda Reynolds’ death was the subject of a civil trial in 2009, after which a panel of citizens concluded Wilson’s determination she died of suicide was arbitrary, capricious and incorrect.
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CORRECTION: This item has been updated to correctly reflect the town in which Jonathan Reynolds resides.
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For background, read “Breaking news: Inquest jurors: Ronda Reynolds was murdered” from Wednesday October 19, 2011, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Reynolds basically confessed in his 911 call IMHO. He gave a defense over the phone, a sub conscious act most killers do when they report their own homicide. No remorse, no emotion, just a defense. Only a guilty person would do that. Take a polygraph, Reynolds. Everyone knows you did it. All roads lead to you! The only problem was the botched investigation from the beginning. Ask yourself why. My guess was that Reynolds was connected to someone high up in the McCroskey regime. Maybe even McCroskey himself. The first responders were told to stand down, that it was a suicide. Well, women generally don’t shoot themselves, and especially not in the back of the head. Rhondas blood is not only on your hands, Mr. Reynolds, but also the evil administrator in the McCroskey regime who helped it go away. Where’s the evidence? Oh that’s right, it got destroyed. How convenient. God knows the truth. The bible says if a man rolls a stone, it will surely roll back on him. If he digs a pit, he will surely fall into it. The truth can’t be buried forever.
He should slink back to the slime from whence he came. He is a evil man and he should have the decency to go away. If I was Barb I’d haunt him for life. He and his progeny are creeps. Sue away you animal , no one is fooled by you.
I think its about time Rhonda’s Mother brings a civil suit against the two Reynolds scum and takes them for everything they have…or maybe she should to see if the county settles out of court and then goes after them.
I think Reynolds thinks he can get a settlement. I don’t think he should. He/son got away with murder.What more could he want?
Chutzpah, thy name is Ron Reynolds. If this suit reaches a courtroom, I would fully expect the media and Ann Rule to be on hand for Ron’s testimony. Pretty hard to invoke the Fifth when YOU’RE the one filing the suit. Royce may be right, though…I wouldn’t be shocked to see the County shoot for an out-of-court settlement. They’re pretty risk-averse in the Prosecutor’s office.
After seeing The Chronicle’s article on this lawsuit, I have to wonder. The Chronicle writer could not resist editorializing “much of it not true” about information Barb Thompson uncovered in her investigation of her daughter’s murder. Lewis County is lucky to have Sirens and some source of real news compared to KELA and The Chronicle.
As for the Reynold’s suit, all I can say is amazing. Every time this has gone before a jury and the facts come out, the same conclusion is reached, it was a murder. I still cannot understand the reason behind this coverup. At best Ron Reynolds and Jonathan Reynolds are guilty of being accessories after the fact. However, the statute of limitations has run on that crime. It would be great to see this get its day in court. There is no way the Reynolds will get summary judgment and a good chance the coroner and the county will. In the meantime a lot of money will be wasted.
As for the various court hearings on the Reynolds case, let us forget, this matter has been up to at least the 2nd District Court of Appeals, I cannot remember is the state Supreme Court weighed in on it. I really doubt they are going to reverse themselves now and say the Reynolds got a raw deal.
The truth is, a young woman was murdered and the two most likely suspects got away with it. Loss of income is a very small price to pay in exchange for their parts in taking her life.
Having read that Reynolds has sued the coroner for defamation, I must opine that it’s the most foolish thing he will have done in this case since the night Ronda was killed.
Mr. Reynolds twice had the opportunity to testify in front of a jury to profess his innocence- in Thompson’s lawsuit against Coroner Wilson and again in Coroner McCleod’s inquest. But, both times Reynolds instead chose to invoke his 5th Amendment right to remain silent because then (1) he would not be required to submit to questions posed on cross-examination, and (2) his testimony would not be available to be used against him in a later murder prosecution.
By filing a civil suit, both possibilities now become realities– he will have to testify and be cross-examined in his own lawsuit. That testimony may then be used against him in a criminal prosecution. Remember, there is no statute of limitations for murder.
Additionally, not only must Reynolds prove his allegations, Coroner McLeod may defend by proving Reynolds killed his wife or had a hand in it, as “truth is a defense to a defamation lawsuit.” McLeod has other defenses, e.g., he was merely doing his duty by following existing law. Mr. McLeod May even have immunity from the lawsuit.
Some people are very arrogant and think they are smarter than everybody else. Often, they don’t know when to keep their mouth shut. This is particularly true of people who think they can literally get away with murder.
A murder prosecution may be brought many years after a death. In Snohomish County, a similar once-dropped murder charge come back from the dead and, proven in part by the formerly unavailable testimony of the killer, put an arrogant husband in prison for the murder of his wife. David Schubert was shortly thereafter prosecuted and convicted of murder and received and served a 13-year prison sentence.
How Reynolds can win is if Lewis County chickens out and settles this lawsuit out of court before Reynolds has to testify.
Royce Ferguson