Lewis County Sirens.com

Police assemble at the scene of a homicide in the Hunter’s Walk neighborhood today.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police are investigating a homicide at a home in a north Centralia neighborhood and have detained a suspect.

Officers were notified about 8:30 a.m. today.

“The suspect contacted us at the police station, she called 911 and said she needed to talk with someone,” detective John Panco said.

Officers went to her residence off of West Oakview Avenue and confirmed a man inside was dead, according to Panco.

The woman was interviewed and taken to the Lewis County Jail, Panco said.

Early information from the Centralia Police Department indicated it was a death by gunshot, but detectives are still processing the crime scene this afternoon.

Panco didn’t reveal what the woman told investigators. He didn’t release any names this afternoon.

Across the street neighbor Will Fitzmorris said he woke up this morning to see yellow police tape across the front of the house, and a patrol car parked in front.

A man, a woman and two children moved in there in recent years, he said.

Next door neighbor Jim Murphy knows the family a little.

“She is the nicest person and they have swell kids,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he and his wife heard a noise while they were rearranging furniture around 9 or 10 o’clock last night. His wife asked him if it sounded like a gunshot, he said.

“I said no, it sounded like something, somebody slammed real hard,” he said.

The pale yellow modular home is in a neighborhood called Hunter’s Walk.

This afternoon, the Centralia Police Department’s crime scene van is parked on the narrow street. Detectives were inside collecting evidence and getting photographs, according to Panco.

“I can’t give you much information as far as how it happened, what happened,” Panco said.

He didn’t yet know what the woman would be booked for, but expected he would have more details to release before the end of the day.

The Lewis County Jail’s online roster indicates a Janet L. Anderson was booked around 11:45 a.m. today for second-degree murder.

Update: Panco acknowledged in a news release at about 11 p.m. that Anderson, 39 years old, was their suspect.

Police tape is stretched across the front of Centralia home where police are investigating homicide.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities are still trying to track down next-of-kin for the homeless man who died outdoors in freezing temperatures this week, but want in the meantime to share some information to allay fears of those who have family members living on the streets.

He was 57 years old and has been residing in the Centralia area for perhaps a year and half, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said this morning. He has also spent time in Aberdeen, he said.

McLeod wants to find and notify his relatives of the death, before releasing the man’s name to the public.

“I’ve gotten calls from three families who have people on the streets,” McLeod said. “It causes a lot of stress for people who have family in that situation.”

Authorities initially revealed very little after he was found dead on Wednesday morning in Centralia’s Rotary Riverside Park off Harrison Avenue. An autopsy confirmed he died of hypothermia from the cold.

Centralia Police Department detective Corey Butcher said he was discovered at one of the covered picnic areas, with all of his belongings, sleeping bag, backpack, food and such.

It’s a sad thing, McLeod said.

“In 2016, in the U.S., one of the most developed countries in the world, that you can curl up and go to sleep and die,” McLeod said.

Temperatures were at 32 degrees in the Twin Cities for most of that night.

McLeod said the dead man’s information lists him as 6-feet tall and 215 pounds. A recent jail booking photo shows him with long black hair, somewhat balding in front and with graying facial hair, he said.

No missing person reports have been found for him, but a check with a nationwide law enforcement database shows he’s had contacts with police in several states, McLeod said.

Those places include, Illinois, Las Vegas, Arizona, Florida and southern California, according to McLeod.
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For background, read “News brief: Man without a home basically froze to death” from Thursday December 15, 2016, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 39-year-old Centralia man arrested for allegedly beating up his girlfriend to get some of her casino winnings was ordered held on $100,000 bail yesterday.

James W. Lowther was brought before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court, charged with first-degree robbery and second-degree assault.

The incident came to the attention of police about 7 a.m. on Wednesday when they were called to the 1200 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia where they found the woman, with a cut on her hand, a scrape on her chin and what looked to be blood on her nostrils.

She told the officer she got paid the day before, that evening they went to the Nisqually Red Wind Casino together and she gave Lowther some money to gamble with, according to court documents.

The court documents go on with the following allegations:

They left for home around 2 a.m. and once they got home, Lowther began to argue with her about wanting half of her winnings so he could fix his truck and buy some items.

Lowther had won about $1,300 and she had won about $8,600 playing slots.

They argued until about 6 a.m. when she needed to go to work. He took her car keys and would not give them back, unless she gave him money.

She said at one point she agreed to give him $2,000 if he would let her go to work and as she was about to dial 911, he tackled her to the floor and tried grabbing the money from her brassiere. She said he put her in a headlock until she could not breathe.

She told police she began screaming and then Lowther offered to drive her to work. Once in the car, they argued and he drove instead to an isolated area out Little Hanaford Road where he continued to demand money.

They returned to an area near the residence, he made her pull out her money, count it in front of him and hand it over.

He left. She called 911.

Police later on Wednesday found Lowther hiding in a house in Lewis County. He had $2,384 in his pocket.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler scheduled Lowther’s arraignment for next Thursday.