By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The 62-year-old man who died Saturday night on U.S. Highway 12 near Packwood was one of the witnesses in the recently filed murder case against Randle taxidermist Erik Massa.
Donald G. Diemert was dead at the scene of a wreck in which his Pontiac Grand Am struck a guard rail and then crossed the highway and ran into a rock wall.
Donald G. Diemert
Troopers said it was a slow speed crash, not serious enough it should have killed him. His dog traveling with him survived unhurt.
The investigation at the scene ruled out any mechanical failure, according to Washington State Patrol Sgt. Jason Ashley. Troopers are leaning towards some kind of medical issue or something like falling asleep at the wheel, Ashley said.
An autopsy is scheduled for today.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said Diemert was one of several witnesses and they’ll just figure out how to prosecute the case without him.
Meyer declined to say what testimony Diemert would have offered. He is one of seven people listed in court documents as having given witness statements to detectives.
“Now we’re just looking to keep that story as complete as possible,” Meyer said yesterday.
Massa was charged two and a half weeks ago with second-degree murder for the March 14 death of Guy W. LaFontaine, 58, of Federal Way.
LaFontaine died with two broken eye sockets and other blunt force injuries to his torso and extremities. Detectives found a broken shotgun with blood on it in an empty silo next to Massa’s shop, according to charging documents.
Massa, 43, is free on $25,000 bail and expected in court tomorrow for his arraignment.
Diemert was a retired Boeing worker who was involved in the Back Country Horsemen and formerly an avid boater when he lived in Federal Way, according one of his ex-wives. He moved to the Randle-Packwood area in 1996, Linda Diemert said.
He did contract work such as plowing driveways in the winter and haying in the summer, she said.
The Army veteran who served in Germany and Vietnam was hospitalized for several months after breaking his back and neck in a fall off a barn he was building in the summer of 2009.
He was paralyzed about two months and only got out of the hospital and returned home early last year, according to Linda Diemert.
A neighbor and fellow Vietnam veteran called him a tough old buzzard. The roof accident seemed like a big wake up call to Diemert, Bill Serrahn said in an email message.
“It was pretty amazing how he fought his way back from that,” Serrahn wrote.
Serrahn wrote that Diemert was happy when he saw him last week. He’d been working on his place, met a woman he liked from Yakima and, he had plans.
“The Gods gave him a bonus round of an extra year and a half, but I guess it was time to go,” Serrahn wrote.
Diemert’s dog is being cared for temporarily by his neighbor and ex-wife Lona Westby.
He is survived by two daughters Debra Ann Benfer, 34, of Covington; Bonnie Lynn Taylor, 33, of San Diego; and a sister Charlotte Fuller in Arizona.
Linda Diemert said his burial will be at Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn, though some of his ashes will be scattered at two of his favorite places; the Cowlitz River and Blake Island in Puget Sound.
Instead of flowers, his family is suggesting donations to the Humane Society.
Join us
About the news: We’re not fancy, but do have some cool new stuff
February 21st, 2011By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Greetings readers.
I’ve added a couple more features to help make Lewis County Sirens an even more useful place to bookmark if you like to be on top of the news.
“Latest earthquakes” is a link I use to initially get the most current information when the ground shakes and “Registered sex offender search” is a resource for anyone who wants to stay informed in that regard.
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network’s website offers a colored square on a map within moments of tremblers; red for within the past two hours, blue for the previous two days and yellow for the prior two weeks.
Clicking on a square will show you the magnitude, time, location and depth, details that at first are preliminary but get updated by scientists at the seismic laboratory at the University of Washington.
If you check there regularly, you’ll see fairly frequent small earthquakes occur in the area south of Mossyrock.
If you look now, you’ll see there was another “micro” earthquake just before 2 p.m. Saturday in between Morton and the volcano in what they call the St. Helen’s seismic zone. Remember, last Monday seismologists were saying that 4.3 quake and the aftershocks were in a zone with crustal faults that just happened to be close – about six miles northwest – to Mount St. Helens, but were not under the mountain.
Oh look. Just before 6:30 p.m. on Saturday a micro earthquake was recorded less than a mile from the volcano. Hmm. Time to check what the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash. says about this. It was 2.0 and less than a mile deep, according to the seismic network.
Anyhow, if you feel the earth move, checking that site is a good next move.
Uh, also please think about calling or emailing me right away if it’s more than micro, as I may not have felt it.
Another resource I added under “Other useful web links” on the right hand side of Lewis County Sirens is the offender search, in which you can look at counties around the state, including Lewis, Thurston, Cowlitz and Grays Harbor.
To look up registered sex offenders living within a specified radius from your home, work or school, click on your county. There, you can also find safety tips and other information, as well as register to receive email alerts if a new offender registers with an address near you.
There’s a place to search by name as well as another place labeled “view all offenders” in a county. Keep in mind, those who have never gotten in trouble with the law aren’t going to be required to register, so you won’t see them there. And I’m not sure as I haven’t explored it thoroughly, but you may not find level one registered sex offenders listed.
Both those links are newly added to Lewis County Sirens’ home page, where you can also find links to monitor river levels and weather conditions to get an early heads up when storms threaten, find out who’s in jail and see summaries of court cases, as well as check in with free-to-read newspapers surrounding Lewis County.
Also sort of new on Lewis County Sirens is a Facebook link, so you can go to our Facebook group page and add LC Sirens as your friend.
Lots of you already know this, but if you “friend” the page – with that little square brown “join” button – then whenever I post a news item, my headline and an excerpt will pop up on your Facebook home page news feed.
If you don’t already belong to Facebook, well, you have to join first.
Not so new, but still important is the “donate” button on Lewis County Sirens.
If you like what you’ve been reading here since last June, and think an independent local news site is a valuable resource, consider helping support Lewis County Sirens.
When I launched this news site, a former executive editor who was very enthusiastic about the idea suggested to me such local news sites could probably only be sustainable by tapping into multiple revenue streams.
And I think he is right about that.
It’s super easy to contribute. Just click on the yellow button and it will take you to PayPal, a secure site to send money through.
If giving money electronically makes you uncomfortable, Lewis County Sirens’ mailing address can be found on the right sidebar under “Contact us at Lewis County Sirens”.
I remain dedicated to maybe not having the fanciest news site, but bringing readers news daily and when it happens of crime, police, fire and courts in greater Lewis County.
For example, it was Lewis County Sirens on Christmas morning that brought you news that two buildings were burning in downtown Toledo, and then shared photographs and details of the devastating blaze through the holiday weekend.
It was Lewis County Sirens that brought you ongoing updates about rivers rising throughout a weekend in mid-December and another in mid-January.
And it was here last month that you could follow the trial of a Rochester drug dealer and the details of threats, assaults and eventually a fatal shooting that came after his mobile home was robbed of pounds of methamphetamine.
The tale of Robert Maddaus Jr. wound through Centralia, Onalaska, Olympia and even into the trailer home of former Chehalis resident Robbie Russell whose own frequent encounters with the law are enough for a book.
Those are just some of the stories told first and most comprehensively here as they unfolded.
Lewis County Sirens’ readership continues to grow.
Last month, Lewis County Sirens tallied more than 83,000 page views. Local people who appreciate a reliable source for quality local journalism and want to keep current with what’s going on in their community.
Please consider a donation, or even a monthly contribution, to keep Lewis County Sirens here for you.
I’ve said this before, but you can also contribute to Lewis County Sirens’ success in other ways: If you come across a story here you like, share it with friends by sending them a link; if you know someone you think could benefit from advertising to a wide audience, let them know about a super affordable advertising opportunity.
As always, if you have a news tip, don’t hesitate to contact me.
And keep on reading.
Your news reporter,
Sharyn L. Decker
sharyn.decker@lewiscountysirens.com
360-748-4981 and 206-546-3638
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
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