By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A trial expected this summer for a man who allegedly helped his father – a former Washington state trooper – carry out a suicide plan and make it look like homicide so the family could collect insurance money, has been postponed.
Kenneth R. Varner
The lawyer for Kenneth R. Varner said a judge today agreed to postpone the trial until the week of Sept. 12.
The 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 Varner, now 34, has pleaded not guilty in Lewis County Superior Court.
Charging documents in the case offer suggestions the son retrieved the firearm from Packwood; it was found later in Mayfield Lake.
Authorities arranged in April for Kenneth Varner to be arrested in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where he had been living.
Defense attorney Michael Underwood said the large volume of documents gathered in the investigation made it necessary to push out the date of the trial.
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Read “Bail $500,000: Son wanted for allegedly helping former trooper in suicide, fraud, arrested in Mexico” from Thursday April 14, 2011, here
Read “Packwood-area death scene was tampered with, authorities say” from June 11, 2010, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter