Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 34-year-old Winlock woman has pleaded not guilty to theft charges in a case in which she allegedly took over bank accounts of woman who was hospitalized and then died.

Aurora S. Fulmer claimed she had been the dead woman’s caregiver and that the woman told her she could have her money and her Centralia house, according to court documents.

Aurora S. Fulmer

The woman, whose name is not revealed in the documents, passed away on Jan. 11 and resided at a home on the 100 block of Fircrest Road in Centralia.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office began investigating on Feb. 8 and arrested Fulmer on June 13, suggesting Fulmer wrongfully withdrew more than $43,000 from two of the woman’s accounts.

When she went before a judge the following day, she was allowed release pending trial on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Schapp said Fulmer had one prior felony conviction, for a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. Temporary defense attorney Kevin Nelson said Fulmer had spent a fair amount of time in drug court, “but it did not work out.”

Fulmer is charged with one count of second-degree theft (less than $5,000) and three counts of second-degree identity theft.

The case came to light after Deanna Adams, a 36-year-old Shelton resident, contacted the sheriff’s office to report a theft, according to authorities.

Adams said she and her mother had been estranged for eight years and she learned from the coroner’s office on Jan. 24 her mother had died.

Charging documents go on to give the following account:

Adams collected items of her mother’s from the coroner’s office including a house key and went to the home where she found Fulmer.

Fulmer told she’d been the mother’s caregiver for a year and lived in the home for six months and showed Adams a power of attorney. The document originally had the mother’s partner listed as the agent, but it was crossed or whited out and replaced with Fulmer’s name.

Fulmer subsequently said she had the dead woman’s will and had been in contact with the dead woman’s attorney “the entire time.”

Adams became suspicious, going through her mother’s checkbook and finding several checks written out to Fulmer, but not in her mother’s handwriting. After she was appointed court administrator for her mother’s estate, she reviewed documents from the Bank of America which showed more than 100 transactions between Jan. 9 and Jan. 23.

A sheriff’s detective discovered more than $17,000 moved from the dead woman’s social security bank account during roughly the same period, and connected one ATM withdrawal to Fulmer via video.

Detective Gene Seiber also collected documents linking Fulmer and the Bank of America account including an $84 piercing in Longview on Jan. 13, a $238 jewelry store purchase three days later and a K-Mart/Western Union money transfer of $540.

Seiber spoke with Adam’s mother’s “actual caregiver” who said no one other than the deceased woman was staying at the house prior to her last day of work in mid-October. Fulmer first showed up at the house the same month, her boyfriend had been hired to do yard work, Seiber learned.

Seiber spoke with a neighbor on Fircrest Road who said only the deceased woman had been living at the house until she went into the hospital, but then he saw traffic increase and could tell someone moved in.

Detective Seiber also learned that on March 23, Fulmer showed up at Adam’s mother’s attorney’s office without an appointment, and left behind a copy of the last will and testament.

The attorney had originally prepared the will in 2011, but in the copy she left, Fulmer’s name had been handwritten on the documents, leaving all personal property and money to Fulmer. It was initialed with Adam’s mother’s initials, but not certified.

The attorney told Seiber he had no personal contact with Fulmer before March 23.

Fulmer moved out of the house the next day and Adams took possession of it the next day.

Fulmer, who also uses the last name of Contreras, pleaded not guilty to all charges on Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court. Her trial was scheduled for the week of Sept. 4
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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS STOLEN FROM HOSPITALIZED” from Wednesday June 14, 2017, here

Paulo Botello-Garcia, center, consults with his attorney during sentencing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A former Centralia man whose convictions and 30-year sentence were rejected by the court of appeals entered into a plea deal instead of going through a second trial and was given a new sentence yesterday of nine years in a child sex abuse case.

Paulo Botello-Garcia made an Alford plea to four counts of second-degree child molestation.

When he appeared before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court, his attorney asked for the low end of the standard sentencing range that applied, arguing his client’s previous lawyer failed to present information about the Iraq war veteran’s post traumatic stress disorder.

Seattle-based attorney Peter Connick told the judge Botello-Garcia had led a crime free life prior to incarceration and stayed out of trouble while locked up.

Botello-Garcia was arrested in 2012 after a 15-year-old girl’s mother found writings in the teen’s journal about incidents that had occurred in the past and he was convicted in a 2014 jury trial. He and the victim were members of the same household.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm asked the judge to impose the high end of the sentencing range, specifically 116 months in prison and then four months of supervision.

Bohm noted Botello-Garcia had a third-degree theft from 2012.

Botello-Garcia spoke through a Spanish interpreter and declined to make a statement to the court on his own behalf.

Judge Andrew Toynbee said the disability played only a small role in his decision, and behaving well while in prison played no role.

Toynbee ordered a sentence of nine years with 12 months of supervision after release. Four months would be too short, according to Toynbee. The defendant will get credit for time already served.

The convictions that were tossed out by the Washington State Court of Appeals were two counts of second-degree child molestation and two counts of second-degree rape of a child. The panel found the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence and remanded the case for a new trial for the 41-year-old Centralia man.

Connick said he and his client had been prepared to go to trial again, but entered into the plea agreement the day before it was to begin.

Judge Toynbee signed a 10-year sexual assault protection order prohibiting Botello-Garcia from contacting the victim.
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For background, read “Centralia man un-convicted of child sex crimes back in court” from Wednesday June 29, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The body of  34-year-old Jesse Cruz of Oakville was found yesterday near the mouth of the river in which he vanished.

Jesse Cruz

Brinnon Fire Department Chief Tim Manly said some workers were checking shellfish around noon yesterday and as they returned from the tide flats spotted Cruz.

Cruz went missing in the Duckabush River in Jefferson County on Saturday afternoon.

He and friends were recreating at a place called Ranger Hole and he had jumped from a high rock into the water and his friends went in behind him, according to authorities.

Manly said someone on land with a stick was helping Cruz’s girlfriend out and he was behind her helping and then he disappeared.

“Jesse was known for his love of the water, he was a good swimmer,” Manley said.

But it’s a location they don’t recommend for swimming, he said.

A search was conducted until dark that night and again on Sunday and Monday, Manly said.

Cruz traveled about three and a half miles down the river, he said.

Manly called it a blessing he was found.
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For background, read “Read about Oakville resident missing after river accident …” from Wednesday June 21, 2017, here