Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

WINLOCK – A woman was shot dead this morning in a trailer park in Winlock and a 65-year-old man is in custody.

Sheriff’s deputies and aid were called just before 11 a.m. to the scene on the 700 block of Frost Road, just east of Interstate 5.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

“There was a dispute between the two outside,” Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber said this afternoon. “There was no relationship between the two, other than they lived in the same park.”

An arriving deputy found the 66-year-old woman dead on a gravel roadway near the mailboxes and an office-laundry  building in the middle of the park, according to Seiber. The victim and the suspect live on opposite sides of the mobile home park.

Seiber said she was shot once with a small caliber handgun.

Both the suspect, Richard J. Roth, and another individual called 911, Seiber said. When deputies arrived, Roth was at his home, a small home-made trailer. He was cooperative, according to Seiber.

“He talked to our deputies and detectives freely,” he said.

The woman lived alone, according to Seiber. Her name won’t be released until her family is notified.

The Frost Road Trailer Park sits amid towering Douglas Fir trees and its 32 spaces hold camp trailers, fifth-wheels, mobile homes and a house.

The park owner, who didn’t give her name, said the victim has resided there more than 12 years and Roth moved in three or four months ago. Seiber said Roth is from Oregon.

This afternoon, detectives searched through Roth’s trailer and van looking for the handgun, while neighbors conferred with one another or walked small dogs through the area.

Seiber said once they were finished they would be looking for answers about what transpired and why.

“What the dispute was about, what was the history between the two,” Seiber said.

He didn’t yet know the specific offense Roth would be booked on. The Lewis County Jail log late this afternoon shows he was booked for first-degree murder.

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.