This past month I have had two calls from people in the county concerned about wolves. One was from a rancher up in the Deep Lake area and the other was a county resident over near Orient. Both had seen wolves on their property and both believed there are wolf packs in the area where […]

Last week I filed additional charges in the matter of the murder of Gordon Fiest of Colville who was killed on July 17.   I filed Murder in the First Degree and in the alternative Murder in the Second Degree, against Jesse J. Fellman-Shimmin,  age 27 and Collette Marie Pierce, age 25.   I had previously filed […]

Last Tuesday, James Ernest Guinn, Jr. of Evans Washington, pleaded guilty to one count of Rape of a Child in the First Degree. There had been other state charges against him related to child pornography, but they were dropped in our court because they are being pursued federally by the United States Attorney in Spokane. […]

Every week or two, the Washington State Prosecutor’s Association summarizes the cases that have been decided by the Appellate Courts which are of interest to prosecutors and others in the justice system.   Here is a sampling of the recent decisions which affect the work the prosecutors office does. These summaries are published on the WAPA […]

Last week, after 4 days of trial and after 3 hours of deliberation, a Superior Court jury acquitted Todd Chism of all charges.  The charges arose out of an incident that occurred last spring, when 2 WSP troopers had contact with him just opposite his home on Hwy 291.  He had been charged with several […]

On Wednesday, August 3, after deliberating for about 3 hours, a Superior Court returned a guilty verdict against Jody Boring. She was found guilty of Trafficking in Stolen Property in the Second Degree.  The jury also found as an aggravating circumstance, that this was a gross economic offense or a series of offenses.    The charges arouse out […]

This past week was very busy in the office. The week started with the report of the murder of Gordon Feist of Colville.   The Stevens County Sheriff’s office worked to investigate this killing, and within four days, detectives made an arrest.  Eric Booth is in custody.  He will be formally charged this week.  The investigation […]

A week or so ago, a local farmer and rancher called me and told me about an incident with a predator. This incident was not about a cougar, but involved an adult bear that had probably killed the rancher’s livestock. The man told me he was out in his field checking on his cows and […]

Last week the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office continued the investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the situation of Francis Swan of Kettle Falls.  A search of her residence was conducted and many items were seized which will be evaluated for evidentiary purposes.  Family members of Mrs. Swan have been in contact the Sheriff’s Office […]

One case is finally finished.– maybe. On Wednesday, May 2, 2007, Mr. Preston Carbary was convicted by a jury of three felony counts of Rape by a Health Care Worker.  At the time, he was counseling the victim and used his position to force the victim to have sexual relations with him.    After some delay, […]