Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Robbie Russell’s troubles over the past 18 months were wrapped up into one plea agreement which is sending him off to prison with a six-year sentence.

Robert Shawn Russell

The 47-year-old until yesterday was facing charges in multiple cases, three involving methamphetamine and one in which a fellow defendant has since been slain.

The earliest case is from June 2009 when Russell and David West Sr. of Onalaska were accused of ambushing several teenagers camping outside Winlock. Russell allegedly brandished a handgun and fired a shot during the incident. It was allegedly about West Sr. trying to retrieve money that was stolen from him.

West Sr, his 16-year-old son and a friend were fatally shot in August inside West’s home. Two other men are awaiting trial in that case.

Robert Shawn Russell was out on bail when last May, police got a tip sending them to Russell’s Centralia home where they found enough methamphetamine and other items that he was charged with possession with intent to deliver drugs, according to a court file.

He was out on bail when a month later he was stopped by Centralia police and arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm. Police Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said at the time he also found in the car an amount of methamphetamine large enough it could be moulded into a clump the size of a tennis ball.

He was out on bail in August when the triple homicide occurred in the Salkum-Onalaska area and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office decided Russell was a “person of interest” in the case.

Within a week, Russell was brought into the jail on a warrant, and because his bail bondsman decided to revoke his bonds. John Wickert, owner of Jail Sucks Bail Bond Co., said he didn’t want to be involved with Russell anymore.

Two months ago, authorities said they traced a golf ball-sized chunk of methamphetamine found inside the Lewis County Jail back to Russell. He was charged with delivery of a controlled substance.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said today the plea agreement was a good way to resolve the cases.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt yesterday sentenced Russell to six years in prison.

While Russell pleaded guilty to several crimes for which he got lengthy sentences, under the law they are to be served concurrently. Deputy Prosecutor Steve Scott handled the sentencing hearing. Scott said:

For delivery of methamphetamine in the jail, 72 months.

For possession with intent to deliver in Centralia from May: 72 months. Also, 24 months for a simple drug possession from another date.

For possession of methamphetamine from the June traffic stop: about 24 months, Scott said, as well as 90 days for driving with a suspended license.

For the June 2009 camping incident: 60 months. Scott said Russell pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree assault, one count of unlawful imprisonment and one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Meagher said prosecutors agreed to reduce the charges from the June 2009 case for several reasons, including one of the witnesses is dead, some of the witnesses are on “runaway status” and authorities didn’t have the firearm in question.

“To go all the way on that, we just faced some challenges,” Meagher said.

Is Russell still a so-called person of interest in the August triple homicide?

Meagher today said yes.

Authorities have not suggested Russell was present at the shootings, and Russell has not been charged in connection with the case.

Meagher said they’ve looked into “links”, but “at this time, I don’t have any evidence that he was.”

Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield said this afternoon whether Russell is still a person of interest in that case is a better question for Meagher.

Sheriff Mansfield offered some farewell thoughts however:

“He’s going away for six years and all I can say is if I’m still sheriff in six years, when he gets out, we’ll be there watching him.”
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Read about the June 2009 camping incident and what authorities said about Russell shortly after the triple homicide from Thursday Aug. 26, 2010

Read about Russell’s capture by a bail bondsman from Monday Sept. 6, 2010

Read what Russell said about how the methamphetamine got inside the jail from Saturday Oct. 9, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Authorities may never know how the wanted Colorado man, whose body was found this summer at Riffe Lake, died.

James A. Sprague, 49, was found dead in July near the Mossyrock Dam fishing area. He was being sought by Denver police for the March slaying of his girlfriend.

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office got word yesterday that DNA tests confirmed the badly decomposed remains were Sprague’s, but they don’t expect to learn more about what killed him.

“There is actually no possibility we will be able to determine a cause and manner because of the condition of the body,” Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris said this morning.

Denver police had obtained an arrest warrant for Sprague after his 30-year-old girlfriend was found March 25, dead with a head injury in the bathroom of her home, according to the Denver Police Department. Rose Westendorf died from blunt force trauma, and it was determined to be a homicide, according to the department

In April, a vehicle belonging to Sprague was impounded after it was found abandoned near the Blue Lake Campground outside of Randle, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. (The Denver Police Department reported it belonged to Westendorf)

On July 28, some 30 miles away, a recreational boater found an adult’s body on the shore’s edge at the west end of Riffe Lake.

Items in the area suggested he might have set up camp there and a backpack next to the body contained Sprague’s identification.

It’s a reservoir where water level goes up and down. Harris said the water and the length of time he had been there make it impossible to conclude how he died.

The cause and manner of his death, as well as the date will all be listed as unknown, Harris said.

Sheriff’s detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Sprague’s death.
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Read “News brief: ID found with body near Mossyrock belongs to murder suspect, sheriff’s office says” from Friday July 30, 2010 here