By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Kenneth R. Varner pleaded not guilty today to charges related to allegedly helping his father make a suicide look like homicide so the family could collect insurance money
His father, 49-year-old James E. Varner of Olympia, was found dead with a gunshot inside his car on a forest road near Packwood in February 2006.
Kenneth R. Varner
Authorities arranged for Kenneth R. Varner to be arrested last month in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where he had been living.
James Varner worked for the state Department of Labor and Industries and before that, was a Washington state trooper.
He reportedly left a note apologizing to his wife about his debt, and telling her not to blame his son.
It’s a case with a “a lot of fraud” involved, according to Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield.
Charging documents in the case – 19 pages of them – offer suggestions the son retrieved the firearm from Packwood; it was found later in Mayfield Lake.
They also include details of an insurance fraud scheme related to a falsely-reported-as-stolen antique car, a case both men were blamed for in Thurston County.
James E. Varner
The documents further contain accusations by a woman who said she reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Kenneth R. Varner defrauded her out of money for the purchase of property after she met him in Puerto Vallarta.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said today the latter allegations are something for the FBI to investigate. He did not know if they have done so.
Kenneth R. Varner pleaded guilty to the Thurston County charges but never returned to be sentenced, Halstead said.
Charging documents include allegations the father facilitated bank transactions for his son’s business deals, which the son conducted under an alias. The younger Varner reportedly worked as a free-lance realtor in Mexico.
Kenneth Varner is charged in Lewis County Superior Court with promoting a suicide attempt and conspiracy to commit theft in the first degree.
He was also charged in an entirely separate Lewis County case – for theft related to a a bid to replace a roof of a business partner’s building in Centralia in 2006.
He remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Trial dates were set for the week of June 6.
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Read background on the case here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter