Lewis County Sirens.com

Diagram of crime scene at 101 Wings Way, in the Salkum-Onalaska area

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Those in the courtroom began to get more clues yesterday about what happened inside the Wings Way house when they heard testimony about where bullet holes, shell casings, three dead males and other items of evidence were found the morning of Aug. 21, 2010.

A 9 mm cartridge case lay on the living room floor and bullet fragments were discovered in various places, including a bedroom, another bedroom described as an office and on the living room floor.

The triple-murder trial of John A. Booth Jr. continued in Lewis County Superior Court with witnesses that included a forensic scientist and the doctor who conducted the autopsies.

Booth, 32, is charged with the fatal shootings in the Salkum-area home of David West Sr. 52, West’s 16-year-old son David West Jr. and a friend Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle. He is also charged with attempted murder of West Sr.’s girlfriend, Denise Salts, then 51 years old.

Blood was found beneath the heads of each of the three who died, as well as on a coffee table, multiple places on the living room floor, a curio cabinet in the hallway and near door jambs of two bedrooms, according to forensic scientist Brianna Peterson’s testimony on Thursday. Peterson, who works for Washington State Patrol, helped collect evidence from the home.

The body of Tony Williams, 50, was found laying across the narrow hallway in between two bedrooms, Peterson said. He died of a gunshot into his right eye, inflicted at a fairly close range, according to Dr. Emmanuel Lacsina who also took the witness stand.

Lacsina said he conducted all three autopsies on Aug. 23, 2010.

David West Sr., 52, was mortally wounded by a gunshot in his head, but also sustained two “distant” gunshots; one in his abdomen and another in his left thigh, Lacsina said.

His body was found laying in roughly the same location in the living room where the day before, a witness had described he stood as he cocked his 12-gauge shotgun, according to testimony. The gun, with the hammer still cocked, lay on the floor beside him, Peterson said.

Photographs of the crime scene and diagrams were displayed on a large screen, as the witnesses shared information with the jurors.

Family members of one of the victims were present, but left the courtroom as photos of West Jr. were presented inside what has been described as a double-wide modular home.

West Jr.’s body was shown laying wedged in between the end of the couch and a coffee table close to the front door.

He was shot through the left cheek, but a second wound – which was fatal – was a “close range” gunshot to his head that exited under his right ear and was found lodged in his right arm, according to Dr. Lacsina.

Found in the small east bedroom, was a bloody sock and a cartridge case on the floor, as well as a bullet hole on the wall above the bed, according to Peterson.

Among the bullets recovered was one that penetrated the east dining room wall, Peterson testified.

Two metal fragments were found in the other bedroom – used as a computer room, as well as blood on the wall near its door, according to Peterson.

Peterson resumed her testimony this morning, when she spoke of what was found in the kitchen area, where Salts had been found alive in a pool of blood.

John A. Booth Jr. listens to testimony in Lewis County Superior Court.

This news story was updated at 1:20 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – John Lindberg told jurors he was two steps behind David West Sr. after West Sr. grabbed a shotgun from his bedroom, walked down the hallway, cocked it, and aimed toward the dining room table, trying to get John A. Booth and Ryan J. McCarthy to leave his house on Wings Way.

That’s when the shooting began, Lindberg said.

“The gunfire, it wasn’t from the shotgun, it was rapid fire,” he said.

As West Sr. began to topple, Lindberg ran back to the master bedroom, he said.

John Lindberg

Now, Lindberg, a plumber, is one of only two individuals alive – other than the accused pair – who were inside the home that night where four people were subsequently found shot, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Denise Salts, then 51, survived a gunshot in her face and is expected to testify today in Booth’s triple murder trial.

It was about 2 a.m. on Aug. 21 of last year when deputies were called to the rambler in the Salkum-Onalaska area. Inside, 52-year-old West Sr, his 16-year-old son David West Jr. and a friend Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle were dead. Salts lay bleeding on the kitchen floor.

McCarthy, 30, has been sent to prison for 14 years after a plea agreement, where he did not admit guilt. Booth, 32, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, attempted murder and other offenses. His trial began Monday and is expected to go through next week.

Under questioning by attorneys yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court, Lindberg told what he heard, saw and recalled from that night. At times, his voice broke as he described fearing he would be killed, and how he hid out until only he and the victims remained in the house.

Lindberg had arrived about 12:30 a.m. to visit, and was followed into the West’s home by Booth and McCarthy, two people he said he had never met before.

They conversed at a dining room table as West Sr. spoke of getting a title to a truck for Booth. Lindberg said.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher questioned Lindberg at length.

Booth asked West Sr. if they could talk outside, and then they stepped out for 15 to 20 minutes, Lindberg said.

Salts was in the living room with someone else, he said.

When West Sr. came back inside, he asked Lindberg if he had any money, Lindberg relayed. He told him he only had $100, but followed him to the master bedroom, and told him he had more on him, but didn’t want to say so in front of Booth, Lindberg testified.

“His face was red, beet red, he looked pretty stressed out,” Lindberg said of West Sr.

That’s when West Sr. picked up the gun and  said “”F*** it, I’m going to end this bullshit once and for all,” Lindberg said.

Lindberg said under questioning when West Sr. started to fall, he fled to the back bedroom where he paced back and forth. He had seen McCarthy at the dining room table, but couldn’t see Booth, he said.

From the bedroom, he said, he heard Salts, but not what she was saying, and heard something hit the floor.

“I heard Tony’s voice,” he said. “Don’t, don’t, you don’t have to shoot, Lindberg relayed.”

Then a sound like a gun was jammed, or being reloaded, he said, and then another “bang”.

“Did you stay where you were at?” Deputy Prosecutor Meagher asked.

“Yeah,” Lindberg said, covering part of his face with one hand and stifling a sob.

“I thought I was gonna die next,” he said.

Lindberg said he heard footsteps coming down hall, and he froze, but then he took a look out the doorway.

“I could see McCarthy going in this room, next the boy is here, Booth was there,” he said. “Booth had the boy by the hair.”

Lindberg said he was an arms-length away from West Sr. and when the men’s backs were turned, he darted behind them into the master bathroom.

As he was closing the door, he said, “I hear a bang, another gunshot, then I hear the boy hit the floor.”

It was dark and he felt around but could not find a window, he said. All he could hear was the fan, he said. There were no more shots, he said.

“Boy, it seemed like forever, 20, 30 minutes,” Lindberg said. “I started praying … cause I didn’t want to die.”

Finally, he looked out and could see the front door was open, he said.

“I had to control myself to jump over Dave’s body, the shotgun,” he said. “I ran.”

Lindberg said he went to the gate and looked around for the men, and noticed their car was gone. He got in his car and drove away fast, he said.

Lindberg headed east on Gore Road and saw a car pass him coming the other way, he said. He kept going, he thought they were returning to kill him, he said.

Then Lindberg, who carries a police scanner in his car, heard his license plate on the scanner and stopped, he said.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Matt Wallace arrived and asked if he was alright. He said no.

Wallace testified Lindberg was shaking and crying, almost unable to control his hands.

“He told me what happened,” Wallace said.

Witnesses continue to testify today in the Chehalis courtroom, including the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsies.

The trial is expected to run through next week.

Diagram of crime scene at 101 Wings Way, in the Salkum-Onalaska area

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The man who was at the Wings Way house when four people were shot is among the witnesses who will testify this afternoon as John A. Booth Jr.’s triple murder trial continues in Lewis County Superior Court.

John Lindberg hid in a bathroom when the guns came out during the events of Aug. 21, 2010 in the Salkum-Onalaska area, according to Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher.

Somehow when the two men, allegedly Booth and his former cell mate Ryan J. McCarthy, fled the home, they forgot Lindberg was there, Meagher has said.

This morning jurors heard from a Washington State Patrol detective who diagramed the crime scene, from the sheriff’s office evidence director and from a Spokane deputy who found a 9 mm handgun in an attic where Booth was arrested days after the slayings.

More to come.

John A. Booth Jr., right, listens with his attorney Roger Hunko, as opening statements are made in his murder trial.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Almost 16 months after the three fatal shootings in Salkum, and following nearly two full days of jury selection in the Chehalis courthouse, the prosecution outlined what they believe the evidence will show about the deaths of David West Sr. 52, David West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, as well as the non-fatal shooting of Denise Salts, then 51.

John A. Booth Jr. was “taxing” various people on behalf of Robbie Russell, Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told a jury this afternoon.

Meagher said Booth was at the West’s house on Aug. 21, 2010 trying to get money from West Sr., when West Sr. brought out a shotgun and then was shot dead.

“But then, he had to think about what to do after,” Meagher said. “What he did is started going around the house shooting witnesses.”

Salkum, Aug. 21, 2010

Booth, now 32, has pleaded not guilty to murder and other offenses related the only triple homicide in recent memory in Lewis County.

The former Onalaskan had been released from prison less than a year earlier, and lived and worked in the Tacoma area where he was supposed to still be under the supervision of a community corrections officer.

Today in Lewis County Superior Court, in between sessions that finally pared a jury pool from 170 individuals down to 12 plus three alternates, Booth’s lawyer continued to raise concerns about his client’s chance for a fair trial.

Attorney Roger Hunko, and Booth himself, spoke to the judge about the potential the jurors could be prejudiced given a large number law enforcement officers in the courtroom, as well as the possibility jurors might discern Booth is wearing restraints beneath his clothing.

Booth is outfitted with a “laser belt” and a leg brace.

“When he moves his legs (the strap) shows,” Hunko told the judge.

The defendant addressed Judge Richard Brosey directly, complaining that the day before there were “10 cops in the courtroom.”

“You know what I’m saying?” Booth asked the judge. “That kinda gives ’em an idea I, John Booth, is too dangerous. He can’t be here without ’em.”

Brosey replied he wasn’t going to tell the sheriff’s office security detail how to do its job and that the only reason the strap would show was if Booth moved around and let that happen.

The judge noted jurors might come to a similar conclusion anyhow, since the defendant is charged with three murders plus attempted murder.

When Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Meagher addressed the eight-man, four-woman jury, he graphically explained why the two charges of first-degree, premeditated and intentional, murder were filed on behalf of two of the victims.

“Tony Williams and David West Jr. weren’t just shot, they were executed,” Meagher said.

Williams was shot in the right eye, “showing he was looking right down the barrel of that gun when Mr. Booth shot him,” Meagher said. David Jr. was shot in his bedroom, and when he came out, was shot right down in his skull, Meagher said.

Meagher said one witness would describe being visited by Booth the same day because he owed Russell money.

“He will say he had been put on ‘unlimited status’ meaning anytime Booth shows up, you have to pay him,” Meagher said.

Another witness is going to testify he went to West Sr.’s house that afternoon, as West Sr. was attempting to sell a $6,000 boat for $1,000, Meagher said.

“Well, the reason he needed the money, is he knew Booth was coming to tax him,” Meagher said.

And Booth would be identified by two witnesses, Meagher said. West Sr.’s ‘significant other’, Salts, will describe how Booth put a gun to her face and shot her, Meagher said.

And John Lindberg will tell of arriving to the house on Wings Way off Gore Road at the same time as Booth and Ryan McCarthy, Meagher said.

Lindberg will testify West Sr. was really upset and asked him for money after West Sr. and Booth talked outside, he said. Lindberg only had $100, according to Meagher.

Jurors will hear how West Sr. then grabbed a shotgun and then Booth pulled a gun and shot West Sr., Meagher said.

Lindberg hid in the bathroom, thinking he was next, Meagher said. “There were more gunshots,” Meagher said.

“For whatever reason, they forgot about him when they left,” Meagher said.

Soon after, Lindberg met up with an approaching sheriff’s deputy and looked at a photo to identify Booth, according to Meagher.

In just a little more than 30 minutes of opening statements, Meagher also told jurors a fully loaded pistol found in the attic of the Spokane home where Booth was subsequently arrested, had Booth’s DNA on it.

Booth is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and attempted extortion.

“The reason for the ‘attempted’ is it wasn’t completed,” Meagher said. “He didn’t get any money out of these people. He shot them instead.”

Defense attorney Hunko deferred making an opening statement.

The trial will resume at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher waits for the jury to be seated.

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Read from Saturday Aug. 21, 2010, “Manhunt spreads to Spokane and beyond after three fatally shot in Onalaska” on Lewis County Sirens, here