{"id":5627,"date":"2011-03-29T14:58:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T21:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lewiscountysirens.com\/?p=5627"},"modified":"2011-03-30T09:33:24","modified_gmt":"2011-03-30T16:33:24","slug":"prosecutor-meyer-decides-against-pursuing-death-penalty-for-john-booth-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/?p=5627","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutor Meyer decides against pursuing death penalty for John Booth Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

This news story was updated at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday March 30, 2011<\/em><\/p>\n

By Sharyn\u00a0 L. Decker
\nLewis County Sirens news reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

The death penalty is off the table for John Allen Booth Jr., a defendant in last August’s triple slaying inside a Salkum-Onalaska area home.<\/p>\n

Booth, 31, is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of David J. West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle.<\/p>\n

\"2010.0821.salkum.triple.yearend\"<\/a>

Deputies investigate off Gore Road on Aug. 21, 2010<\/p><\/div>\n

He is also charged in the death of David J. West Sr. 52, and the non-fatal shooting of 51-year-old Denise Salts. He has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer filed notice on Friday he will not seek the death penalty if Booth is convicted.<\/p>\n

“After looking at everything, meeting with the family, looking at the case and talking with prosecutors inside and outside the office, I decided not to seek the death penalty,” Meyer said today.<\/p>\n

Meyer declined to share what the victims’ family members thought of his decision, saying those are private conversations.<\/p>\n

Previous Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden left the potential option open, but was voted out of office in November. Meyer, a former defense attorney, stepped into the elected position in January.<\/p>\n

Booth’s attorney, James Dixon, said his client is pleased with the prosecutor’s decision, and anxious to proceed to trial.<\/p>\n

Booth and former prison cell mate Ryan J. McCarthy, 29, of Redmond, are charged in the case.<\/p>\n

Authorities have said they believe the two men’s Aug. 21 visit to the house on Wings Way off Gore Road was related to a drug debt collection.<\/p>\n

Booth, a former Onalaska resident, is set for trial\u00a0 the week of May 16, however, prosecutors have asked a judge to consolidate the two cases into one trial.<\/p>\n

McCarthy’s trial is scheduled for the week of Oct. 10.<\/p>\n

Dixon indicated he will oppose the motion.<\/p>\n

“He has a right to a speedy trial,” Dixon said in an emailed note. “He has waived that right already, but that waiver does not extend to the date currently set for Mr. McCarthy’s trial.”<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Read background on the case:<\/p>\n

\u2022 “West Sr. pointed shotgun telling pair of ex-cons to leave his house, triggering triple homicide, unsealed court documents allege” from Saturday Sept. 4, 2010, here<\/a>
\n\u2022 “Unsealed document: More details on Salkum slayings” from Monday Sept. 6, 2010, here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This news story was updated at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday March 30, 2011 By Sharyn\u00a0 L. Decker Lewis County Sirens news reporter The death penalty is off the table for John Allen Booth Jr., a defendant in last August’s triple slaying inside a Salkum-Onalaska area home. Booth, 31, is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9,10],"class_list":["post-5627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-briefs","tag-by-sharyn-l-decker","tag-news-reporter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5627"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5630,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5627\/revisions\/5630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}