Jonathan, left, and his father Ron Reynolds enter a Chehalis courtroom this morning
Updated at 6:10 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Lawyers and the sheriff arranged for Ron and Jonathan Reynolds to go before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court within less than two hours of their warrants being re-issued this morning.
After hearing briefly from the prosecutor, Judge James Lawler ordered the two men to be released immediately.
“The matter is over unless and until the prosecutor decides to file criminal charges, and none are pending at this time,” Lawler said.
Chehalis attorney Joe Mano had no comment about his client, Toledo Elementary School Principal Ron Reynolds.
Olympia attorney Rick Cordes, representing Jonathan Reynolds, called it a travesty.
This may or may not be the final turn in the case of Ronda Reynolds, a 33-year-old former trooper found shot to death in a closet of the Toledo home she shared with her new husband and his sons in December 1998.
Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod issued the arrest warrants based on his inquest jury’s unanimous finding last week the pair were responsible for the homicide of Ronda Reynolds.
While the coroner said he was fulfilling his statutory obligation, elected Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told the judge this morning the same as he announced to the press yesterday:
There is not enough admissible evidence to prosecute them criminally.
The inquest jury only had to make its finding based on a preponderance of evidence, but much of what they heard would not be allowed in a court of law, Meyer said.
Following the very brief hearing in the Chehalis courthouse, Cordes spoke publicly for the first time on the matter.
The process he called a waste of time and money has torn up Ron and Jonathan Reynolds, he said.
“It’s devastating. Ron is in the process of losing his job and Jonathan can’t get a job,” Cordes said.
The two “absolutely” believe Ronda Reynolds committed suicide, and he’s not sure they can ever clear their names, he said.
“The paper has now come out and accused them basically of murder, something they didn’t do, something they had no involvement in,” Cordes said. “And that’s been hanging over them for 13 years.”
Cordes said they are considering holding a press conference of their own sometime next week, and another thought is the possibility of a lawsuit against the county and the coroner, “among others.”
The lawyer said he doesn’t agree the coroner ought to have had them arrested, after knowing the prosecutor would not file charges
The statute was originally adopted around 1850, he said, and was designed for the coroner to act when the sheriff was unavailable, he said.
The influence that Barb Thompson and Ann Rule have had on the community has led to something that’s ruined many lives in the Reynolds’ family, he said.
“People know who they are so they associate some terrible thing that they had nothing to do with, with them,” he said.
Jonathan Reynolds was 17 at the time of Ronda Reynolds’ death.
Ron Reynolds remains on administrative leave from his job as a school principal in Toledo.
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Read this morning’s news when the coroner reversed his decision from the night before to quash the warrants, here
Read Prosecutor Meyer’s announcement from yesterday on why he isn’t filing criminal charges, here
Read about the coroner’s inquest, and find links to the stories filed each day during the proceedings, here
Judge James Lawler's courtroom is full when Ron and Jonathan Reynolds appear briefly
•••
Barb Thompson, mother of Ronda Reynolds, waits for the appearance of Ron and Jonathan Reynolds
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Three years between comments?
Jonathan Reynolds looks like a meth addict. He has cold eyes and several tells” that mark him is deceptive. Just because he got away with it at this point doesn’t mean he will always get away with it. Drug addicts are narcissists who like to brag. When he ends up in jail for something else, and confesses to his cell mate, Ronda may finally get justice.
Ron Reynolds has not been principal at Toledo basically since he was arrested. The statute of limitations is now against trying anyone for anything except murder. The problem with that is proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Suspicion rests on Ron Reynolds, Jon Reynolds and at least one other person. How is a jury supposed to find guilt unless all three are tried together?
So, Terry Wilson skates for his part in this travesty, until he meets his judgment before his Maker. The others also seem to be getting away with it, but all have to face their final judgment.
I have read everything I can find on this. Ron Reynolds Is definitely a first-class jerk. Why oh why are we letting him around children? He is a liar and an opportunist…usually I find these things clouded with ambiguities and figure I don’t have all the facts and leave it to the authorities to work on but this defies all common sense. Mr. Wilson should be on trial also for his stupidity and lack of work ethic. My heart goes out to this mother who persevered and I salute her and her “team.” Thank you all for working so so so very hard to find the truth. Get our laws out of the rich people’s pockets and into the common sense field. Please!!!!!!!
I am 25yrs old. I may be dumb when it comes to this kind of stuff but i did read the whole book and I think I am allowed my opinion and thoughts… It was an amazing book. I am used to reading sience fiction. While I was reading this book the only thing I kept thinking is that why wasnt anyone charged with handling the crime scene wrongfully. I think someone should have taken the fact that it was disorganized and people destroyed evidence and just outright lost items of importance to the courts. The fact that an officer moved the gun upon entering instead of the csi people. If Barb can not get justice she should at least get some compensation back from her many years just trying to get people to realize that her daughter did not commit suicide. she drove through mountains. missed moments with her mother. lost out on money raising and training horses just to get all the proper fact on paper when it should have been done properly in the first place. I hope that justice does come properly without waiting another 13yrs just to get one more word on a piece of paper.
Barb Thompson should file a civil suit against Ron & Jon Reynolds, Terry Wilson and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office…in a faraway venue. Barb probably knows as well as anyone that the Good Ole Boys will make sure there won’t be a fair trial here.
Will some one in the Lewis county sherifs office pleas take this case on,or rehire Mr Berry. The odds are on the prosecutors side. Mr Meyer. Its 2 to 0 in Rondas favor, dont let her and her mom down. Iv watched 48 Hrs and 20/20 for many years and more murders have been prosecuted and won on a lot less evidents then this one. And with out a confession most murders have nothing but circumstatual evidents. If Ronda was my child I would be sueing Lewis County,Ron and Jon and Catherine for wrongfull death. It seems that is what Ron is always saying. Thats how he got Mr Wilson to change undetermined to suidcid,he would sue and what was out of his or his lawyers mouth, Ill sue Lewis county for this. Go for it Ron that would get more things out in the open you would have to prove that every one was wrong,dont think so.
To Steve: Barb and Ann do know what I know. To FactChecker: You are oh, so right! I am no expert in laws, forensics, etc. I base my knowledge on a couple of episodes of Barnaby Jones! However, you would have to be a complete idiot to not see the screaming red flags in this MURDER. How Mr Wilson got suicide out of this case is beyond me! I only wish I could remember the facts of some of those Lewis County stories my husband told me over the years. I think Terry Wilson is the perfect example of people not really knowing candidates or checking up on their background, behavior and track record. Arrogance, pride and power have ruined many a man. I also think all too often voters just see a familiar name on the ballot and think “Oh, I know that name; he must be doing okay, I’ll vote for him”. Now, please, don’t everyone get your dander up. I know there are many, many well informed voters, but there are many who don’t care or waited too long and just start checking boxes, etc. We all know that is true. I hope with all my heart that Justice For Ronda can be found over the weeks and months to come.
I believe there needs to be an inquest of Terry Wilson. He has had the worst track record of any acting coroner in state history! He has bumbled just about every case he has put his dirty little hands into… He is still Vowing that it was a suicide, my friends an idiot of this degree needs to be double checked for ” Discrepancies”.
DJP, you should go to Barbs site and share what you know http://www.realcrimes.com and pick the message board.
Now that it’s over I can not believe the horrible inadequate job the Lewis County Sheriff’s office did in bungling this case from the get go. I know that John McCroskey writes a column for the Chronicle. He usually weighs in on all the current affairs. Since this mess happened on HIS watch, as the sitting sheriff at that time. I will be looking forward to his commentary. The county should be sued for their neglegence!
Stand up and cheer Sharyn L. Decker for her reporting WOW
DJP what you said is right. How about the fact that Ron And Catherine where couneling Ronda and her ex husband on their marriage troubles. Then Ron give Catherin 80000.00 And he still has 3 boys to raise, on wha he gave all to catherine who will have no kidto raise.. He marries Ronda, and Ron has and was up set when Ronda is murderd and finds out her life insurans was only $50000.00 instead as he said, She {Ronda} said she had 200000.00 plus life insurence not $50000.00. At what poin and time did this plan happen? Yesw thir is more to this story then a lot of people know. So come on Lewis County Investgater lets question some of these people. Let find out the truth.
Just not feeling the sympathy for these two. In my opinion, were Ron Reynolds an innocent and honorable man, he would have been fighting with Rhondas mother to catch a killer all along. I believe he knew what happened, and conspired to cover it up for obvious reasons. As far as their inability to maintain/find a job….Welcome to America. The only thing different between them and 16% of the US population…..the life of a woman, that ended 13 years ago, tragically, in her closet.
In response to Mr. Cordes’ comment about “the influence of Barb Thompson and Ann Rule on the community”, believe me when I say Ron and Catherine needed no help from anyone to influence the community. Their behavior in Grays Harbor over the years is well known.
I am also proud of Mr. McLeod. I think we have ourselves a winner – finally, in Lewis County. It’s been a long time coming. I no longer live in Lewis Country, but feel it is still my home. I wish we’d had some leaders years ago that would have humbled themselves and did what’s right instead of constantly buckling to peer pressure and political gain. Now, let’s see if Mr. Meyer is as honorable. I feel that this case is not what it seems. By that I mean the bigger picture must be looked at starting with Mr. Reynolds life long behaviors, past relationships, his ex-wife’s past behavior, drug use and jail time as well as Mr. Reynolds continuing relationship with his ex- wife – even while married to Ronda. This may be hearsay from me, but there are
people out there who could testify of his behavior first hand. There are so many who knew Ron and Catherine growing up that have never been questioned. There are other incidents that happened as a result of Catherine’s drug use. All of which could be used to see a pattern of deceit that could be used in a plot to end Ronda’s life. As I said, there is more to this case than meets the eye – why do you think they gave Jerry Berry such a bad time? Anyone who may have been on to something in this case was squelched by “Lewis County”. We now have one good man in Lewis County, let’s see how many step up in the weeks to come. One more comment in response to Mr. Cordes remark “Jonathan can’t get a job”; I’m not so sure Jonathan ever did have a job.
Great job McLeod! I was a little concerned but he came through for the PEOPLE.
It was fantastic to see the smile on Barb Thompson face.
As for Cordes and his press confrence, I cant wait! The Reynolds have had 13 years to clear their names. 13 years to speak publicly, 13 years to come forward. THEY themselfs have created the dark cloud hovering over not our media.
The US is still (just barely) a nation governed by the rule of law; as much as we’d all like to see the Reynolds boys swing from the highest gallows for this crime (of which they are no doubt guilty), the PA can only charge them if there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate guilt. “Everybody knows he’s guilty” doesn’t fly in a criminal case.
The evidence required for a conviction simply doesn’t exist anymore, so the PA took the pragmatic route of arresting-and-releasing due to lack of evidence.
This is going to follow these two for the rest of their lives. Reynolds senior isn’t going to be able to get a job as a city dogcatcher from this point forward, and Reynolds junior’s prospects are even more bleak. I’m afraid that we’re going to have to be satisfied with this outcome.
It would be interesting if the PA decided to pursue obstruction-of-justice charges against those who threw out the physical evidence. That would send a very clear message to the community that he isn’t okay with the path he was forced to take due to their criminal negligence.
It’s Lewis County, though, so I’m not holding my breath.
well, glad to see they were at least inconvienced for a bit. Glad to see the coroner realized his responsibility to issue the warrent. Now fingers crossed that either the prosecutor decides different, (perhaps taking after the coroner and staying up all night struggling with his choice, or realizing that the citizens want this brought to justice. As for Rhonda, God bless her! God bless her mother who has fought a hard fight on behalf of her daughter. Barb, tie a knot and hold on! dont give up yet.
The death certificate still reads “Homicide”. It will go back to the open case file at the sheriff’s office unless….