By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The Seattle Times writes today about the details of a questionable land deal in Ashford between the former Mount Rainier National Park superintendent and the owner of a Mount Rainier climbing business.
Read more about the sale of a three-bedroom house on two acres in Ashford to Peter Whittaker, owner of Rainier Mountaineering Inc. in 2002, here
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Morton woman was taken to the hospital with a head injury after a single-vehicle crash in the Cinebar area overnight.
A trooper was called just after 1 a.m. to milepost 14.7 of state Route 508 where Teresa A. Scott, 37, had wrecked her 1996 Ford Ranger, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Scott had been heading eastbound when her vehicle crossed the centerline and traveled about 60 more yards through a ditch, hitting a telephone pole and rolling over once, according to the state patrol. The Ford Ranger was described as totaled.
Scott was taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the investigating trooper.
The trooper reported she had been wearing a seatbelt, and she was cited for driving under the influence.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – For the first and maybe the only time, a courtroom of spectators this week got to hear Ryan J. McCarthy’s description of what happened inside a single-story house on Wings Way very early on the morning of August 21, 2010.
Ryan J. McCarthy
After he and John Booth Jr left, three people including a teenage boy were dead, and a woman lay on the kitchen floor bleeding, all from gun shots to their heads.
McCarthy, now 30, was sentenced this week for his role in last summer’s events in the Salkum-Onalaska area home.
Late last summer, prosecutors charged both men with all three murders, saying it didn’t matter which one pulled the trigger.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told a judge in court earlier this month that Booth fired the shots and “Mr. McCarthy was there.”
On Wednesday, as McCarthy appeared in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis for sentencing following a plea agreement, his lawyer said that was pretty much the extent of his client’s role, he was present.
Olympia defense attorney Rick Cordes told the court McCarthy didn’t commit the crimes he was charged with, the crimes he pleaded guilty to, or the crimes he was being sentenced for.
“If he was guilty of anything, it’s because he didn’t choose his friends right, who to be loyal to,” Cordes said.
McCarthy and former Onalaska resident Booth were both picked up and jailed after the shooting deaths of David West Sr. 52, his son David West Jr., 16, and a friend Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle. Denise Salts, then 51, who also lived at the house, survived a gunshot wound to her face.
McCarthy had just been released from prison less than a month earlier. The Redmond resident and Booth were former cell mates.
From the beginning, authorities have been saying the men’s visit to the house was related to some kind of debt collection and gun fire broke out when West Sr. brought out a shotgun and told them to get out of his house.
Cordes told the judge Wednesday afternoon that when West. Sr. said that – “You two m***** f****** get up and get out of here,” that’s what McCarthy did.
“He pushed his chair back, got up from the table and ran outside,” Cordes said. “He was outside when he heard shots fired.”
Cordes said McCarthy ran back in, but turned and left and was outside when a final shot was fired.
“He didn’t touch anybody, he didn’t shoot anybody,” Cordes said.
And he passed a lie detector test that confirmed his story, according to Cordes.
Cordes said his client entered into the plea agreement because nobody knows what jury will do, and he faced the possibility of life in prison if he were convicted.
“The fact that he’s getting 14 years is a black eye on the criminal justice system,” he said.
Prosecutor Meagher didn’t offer the court on Wednesday his reasoning for plea bargaining, but Judge Richard Brosey spoke of what he supposed was a concern prosecutors had about going to trial.
“One problem, it’s not a crime just to be there,” Brosey said. “The state would have to show a person did something to facilitate the crime.”
McCarthy pleaded guilty three weeks ago, per the plea agreement, to first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and attempted extortion
He did so under doctrines under which he pleaded guilty to crimes he did not commit to escape consequences of more serious charges, and agreed if a jury heard and believed the state’s evidence, he would likely be found guilty.
When family members and one victim addressed the court before the sentence was actually handed down, it was clear they didn’t care authorities were no longer accusing McCarthy of murder.
Dan Williams, brother of Tony Williams, raised his voice and demanded McCarthy look at him as he spoke to the court.
“I lost my brother, my best friend,” he said. “You knew what was going on.”
A woman who identified herself only as “Dee” read a statement which spoke of savage animals of society and called for “an eye for an eye”.
“Dee” spoke of having to explain to Tony Williams’ 13-year-old son there are bad people in the world.
“Even life without parole is too good,” she said.
Jodi Porter traveled from her home in Eastern Washington to tell how the death of her teenage son, David West Jr., has affected her family.
“My granddaughter has nightmares about bad people coming in and killing her whole family,” Porter said. “I want justice to be served.”
When Judge Brosey spoke to McCarthy, sentencing him to 14 years plus three months in prison, he called the events of Aug. 21 a total waste, with three people who are dead, and not coming back.
“Most glaring and most disgusting is, none of this needed to happen,” Brosey said. “There’s no reason to be playing this game of going out and collecting money.”
Extorting money involves risk, and this nonsense needs to stop, Brosey said.
“If you choose to associate with people such as Mr. (Robert) Russell and Mr. Booth, you pay the consequences,” Brosey said.
The judge noted the defendant insisted he was no more than a “co-attendee”, but added since there will be no trial, “we’ll never know the truth.”
The one member of the household who survived, Salts, was not satisfied with the plea agreement, saying it’s as though the system has forgotten three people died.
Salts addressed McCarthy directly, presumably her first opportunity since he and Booth were inside her home 13 months ago.
“What you have done is taken away something that is a part of my life,” Salts said. “Dave, his son, my best friend.”
“I’ve got so much anger for you right now, I can’ even begin to tell you,” she said.
“You’re just a waste of time, of space,” Salts said. “Do you have any remorse? Are you not sorry?”
McCarthy hesitated, but finally responded to her repeated direct questioning.
“The truth is, I didn’t do nothing,” McCarthy said.
“The truth is, you were there,” Salts said.
“Every day I miss my best friend, Dave,” Salts said. “They might as well have taken mine (life) too,” she said.
McCarthy was transferred out of the Lewis County Jail yesterday, to prison.
His attorney has said McCarthy will not testify against Booth, or anybody.
Booth’s trial is scheduled for the beginning of November.
•••
For more details about the plea agreement, read “Breaking news: Plea agreement for “accomplice” in Salkum triple slaying means about 14 years” from Wednesday Sept. 7, 2011, here
VEHICLE THEFT
• Centralia police were called about 7:10 a.m. today about a light blue 1991 Honda Accord stolen overnight from the 1400 block of Johnson Road. The car has only three hub caps and its license plate is 451 UXQ, according to police.
• A 29-year-old man was arrested yesterday evening by Centralia police for vehicle theft. Jeffrey D. Downey, of Vancouver, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, also for violation of a no contact order, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• A black 2002 Hyundai was reported stolen from the 2300 block of Sirkka Avenue in Centralia on Wednesday, according to police.
• A 1987 Honda 200 motorcycle was reported stolen from a garage on the 300 block of West Summa Street in Centralia on Wednesday, according to Centralia police. It has an orange tank, police reported.
OTHER THEFT
• Centralia police were called yesterday afternoon to the 600 block of Ash Street about fraudulent activity on a person’s account. Further details were not readily available. Police are investigating, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Centralia police took a report about the theft of prescription medications from a home on the 1400 block of Johnson Road in Centralia on Wednesday.
DRUGS
• Police were called to W.F. West High School in Chehalis for two separate cases of students possessing marijuana on Wednesday. Both the 16-year-old boy and the 17-year-old boy were interviewed and then released pending possible charging, according to Chehalis police.
• Centralia police arrested a 46-year-old Tenino woman for possession of methamphetamine at East Hanson Street and North Tower Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. Robin L. Richardet was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
TRESPASS
• A 39-year-old Chehalis man observed wearing “camo” and sitting on property near the 100 block of Nix Road was arrested yesterday for trespass after a deputy subsequently found him on the 400 block of Highway 603, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Eric Bilton-Smith was booked into the Lewis County Jail, also for misdemeanor possession of marijuana, according to the sheriff’s office.
VANDALISM
• Chehalis police took a report yesterday afternoon of graffiti painted at Penny Playground off Southwest 13th Street.
CRASH
• Two people were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital yesterday after a collision at U.S. Highway 12 and Gershick Road, according to the Washington State Patrol. Both vehicles were described as totaled. Troopers called about 10:15 a.m. reported that Paul S. Lee, 62, of Silver Creek, was driving a Honda Passport and entered the intersection where his car was hit by a 1999 Mercury Mystique. Two women in the Mercury were hospitalized because of pain and/or possible injuries, according to the state patrol. They are Crystal J. Like, 32, of Glenoma, and Caroline A. Livers, 68, of Randle, according to the state patrol.
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday a 23-year-old Toledo man was cited for “wheels off the roadway” when his log truck rolled over and spilled its load on Big Hanaford Road on Wednesday morning. He was uninjured but the wreck caused an estimated $4,000 damage to his truck and trailer, according to the sheriff’s office.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Judge Richard Brosey sentenced Ryan J. McCarthy today to 14 years in prison for his role in last summer’s events in Salkum in which three people were fatally shot and one survived a gunshot to her face.
McCarthy, 30, pleaded guilty three weeks ago to robbery, burglary and attempted extortion in order to take advantage of a plea agreement.
He maintains he did not commit any of the crimes he was originally charged with, including three murders.
His former cell mate John Booth Jr., formerly of Onalaska, is scheduled to be tried for murder in November in Lewis County Superior Court.
More later: Gunshot victim Denise Salts told McCarthy in court today what she thinks of him.
•••
Meanwhile, for details about the plea agreement, read “Breaking news: Plea agreement for “accomplice” in Salkum triple slaying means about 14 years” from Wednesday Sept. 7, 2011, here
EXPLOSIVE DEVICE PLANTED IN ROCHESTER CAR
• Detectives will be closely examining a Volkswagen Jetta and interviewing its owner further after yesterday’s find in Rochester that someone had planted an explosive device in the gas tank. Deputies and a bomb squad were called about 11:30 a.m. yesterday to the 7700 block of Oakberg Lane Southwest after the 33-year-old Rochester woman found wires coming from her car’s gas cap area leading to the ground and around the corner of her home, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. The bomb technicians used a robot to pull the wires out and found nothing attached to that end, sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said. There was nothing at the other end either, he said. However, when they put a camera inside the fuel tube to the tank, they discovered burned residue, suggesting an explosive had actually been activated, he said. It’s not entirely surprising the car didn’t’ blow up when the device activated, as specific conditions of oxygen and fuel vapors may not have been present, according to Elwin. The woman told investigators she couldn’t think of anyone who would want to hurt her, according to Elwin. She’s not a celebrity, a VIP or a government employee, he said, just a regular person. The car was impounded.
THEFT
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a break-in to a store in Randle in which an unknown number of lottery tickets and some $700 of cigarettes were stolen. A deputy called yesterday morning to Gene and Barb’s grocery on the 9000 block of U.S. Highway 12 found a small window had been broken through which the intruder entered, according to the sheriff’s office. Video images from the store will be used to try to find a suspect, the sheriff’s office reported.
• Police were called yesterday evening to the 100 block of Northeast Cascade Avenue in Chehalis by a man who said he discovered jewelry, a camera and a printer missing from his apartment. The resident had someone watching his home after he was arrested and when he got out of jail, the items were gone, according to Chehalis police.
• Centralia police were called yesterday morning to two vehicle prowls in which purses were stolen. The first was on the 500 block of West First Street and about an hour later, another was reported on the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue, according to police.
DRUGS
• A 57-year-old man from Edmonds was arrested late yesterday afternoon for a warrant and possession of methamphetamine, according to Centralia police. Robert A. Russeff was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with officers at the 400 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.
THURSTON DEPUTY ASSAULTED
• A 31-year-old Tenino-area man was arrested yesterday afternoon for third-degree assault of a deputy after he allegedly pushed the deputy on the chest, flicked him on the side of the head and then ran into a bedroom and closed the door. Thurston County deputies were assisting Tenino police in removing Daniel A. Hinkle from a home in Rainier when he was served with a domestic violence protection order, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said Hinkle said he knew right away he shouldn’t have done that, but by that time it was too late, Elwin said. Hinckle was arrested and booked into the Thurston County Jail.
This news story was updated at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday Sept. 28, 2011
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Toledo Elementary School Principal Ron Reynolds and his sons have been excused from testifying at the upcoming coroner’s inquest into Ronda Reynolds 1998 death.
Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod signed an order today quashing their subpoenas to appear and testify.
McLeod writes in his order that the four have asserted their fifth amendment constitutional right, that no person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.
Lawyers for the Reynolds’s and for Barb Thompson – mother of Ronda Reynolds – have been filing opposing motions with the coroner as he finalizes details about what will happen at the October inquest.
Thompson’s attorney has stated the men should be compelled to take the witness stand, where they could still choose to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination. But McLeod in his order said he isn’t going to make them do that.
Ronda Reynolds, 33, was found with a bullet in her head and covered by a turned-on electric blanket on the floor of a closet in the Toledo home she shared with her husband of less than a year, Ron Reynolds. He and his three sons – then 18, 17 and 10 – were present when the first sheriff’s deputy arrived the morning of Dec. 16, 1998.
Nobody has ever been charged with any crime related to the case.
While her death was initially ruled a suicide, it was changed back and forth between that and undetermined as it it was reinvestigated and then as it was the subject of a judicial review two years ago.
Coroner McLeod hopes the inquest will bring resolution to the case.
In his order McLeod writes that despite attorney Royce Ferguson’s assertion the privilege against self incrimination shouldn’t apply in a non-criminal proceeding, case law says it does apply.
McLeod also noted the sons’ motions are similar to their father’s motion, which is similar to one a judge granted during the 2009 judicial review allowing Ron Reynolds not to testify then.
McLeod has decided if they did testify – and if the inquest determines the deceased died by homicide and names the person responsible which could conceivably occur, he would expect prosecutors to dissect their answers looking for guilt.
“Thus, I find it reasonably likely that the Reynolds testimony might be used in evidence in subsequent criminal proceedings against any or all of them,” McLeod wrote.
Coroner McLeod will instruct the jurors the Reynolds have asserted the privilege against self incrimination and no adverse inference should be drawn based upon their exercise of their constitutional right.
In a separate decision yesterday, McLeod noted the inquest jury will consider all possible manners of death.
Ferguson had objected to the label of suicide being one of the options the inquest jury may choose from, citing a ruling in the judicial review civil case in which the previous coroner was ordered to remove suicide from the death certificate .
The inquest is scheduled to begin on Oct. 10.
•••
For more details about McLeod’s decision, download and read his order, here
•••
Read most recent news story on the inquest, here
Join us