By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The coroners inquest into the controversial 1998 death in Toledo of former state trooper Ronda Reynolds is being put on hold, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod announced this morning.
Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod
A review by a panel of citizens was set for the end of August, but McLeod says now the outcome of a related civil case and as well as a triple-murder trial scheduled for the same time both present conflicts.
One of McLeod’s first acts after he took office in January was to change Reynolds’ death certificate from suicide to undetermined. Soon afterward, he announced that rather than review it himself behind closed doors, he preferred a coroners inquest, an open forum that would enhance public confidence in the final conclusion.
The case was the subject of a civil trial in November 2009 after which a panel of citizens concluded then-Coroner Terry Wilson’s determination that Reynolds’ died of suicide was arbitrary, capricious and incorrect. A judge ordered Wilson to change the manner of death, but Wilson instead appealed the order.
McLeod took over the coroner’s office after winning last November’s election.
Ronda Reynolds
Today McLeod is saying the outcome of the civil case appeal – Thompson vs. Wilson – could include an order giving him 10 days to review the case and come up with the manner of death.
“I cannot in good conscious spend tens of thousands of Lewis County taxpayers’ dollars to pursue an inquest when a real possibility exists that the Court of Appeals may order me to conduct a case review to make my own determination as to the manner of Ronda’s death,” McLeod wrote in a news release.
The appeal – by both the coroner and by Barb Thompson, the mother of Reynolds – is being argued in the Court of Appeals in Tacoma in June.
The other issue, according to McLeod, is a criminal trial for John A. Booth Jr., charged with last summer’s homicides in the Salkum-Onalaska area, is scheduled to begin the same week.
Because many individuals are involved in both cases, that would place an undue burden on the resources of the Lewis County Prosecutors Office, McLeod writes. Lewis County sheriff’s detectives are involved in both cases.
Initial plans were to hold the inquest in Clark County beginning Aug. 29 with an outside coroner presiding and Lewis County Deputy Civil Prosecutor David Fine presenting the case to a panel of six citizens.
Fine has represented the coroner, along with Olympia attorney John Justice, on the civil case.
McLeod notes that he still feels a coroner’s inquest is the best format for full public disclosure of the facts in the case and his decision on whether to do so at a later date will depend on the outcome of the Appeals Court decision.
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Read “Details of coming coroner’s inquest in Ronda Reynolds death unfolding slowly” from Friday Feb. 18, 2011, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
well if lewis county sheriffs didnt screw it up in the first place we wouldnt have this problem.oh and lets not forget terry wilson too!!!!
Bounty Killers inc: How can they not know the Manner of Death??? Where did they get their Credentials, out of a Cracker Jax Box???
the only way this is going to be solved is that a REAL forensic pathologist comes in and does a real autopsy.
Where is Quincy when we need him?