Colville Police Department officers responded to an address in the city of Colville a few minutes after 8 am last Thursday morning. At the residence they found David S. Barr deceased. It appeared to officers that he had suffered a violent death. The scene was secured and the WSP and County Sheriff’s office responded to assist in the investigation.

The investigation revealed that there were other people who had been present at various times the previous evening. Interviews were conducted and within hours, Deena L Bailey, a relative of the deceased, was identified as a person of interest in the investigation. She was located and interviewed.

As a result of the investigation, Ms. Bailey was placed under arrest for 2nd Degree Murder. Bond was set by Judge Tviet in the amount of one million dollars, counsel was appointed and a date set for arraignment.

An autopsy was conducted by the Spokane County Medical Examiners office. Detective Ron Maxey from the Colville Police Department attended the autopsy. The official results of that autopsy will not be released until toxicology results are obtained from the WSP crime laboratory. That usually takes a few weeks.

In the meanwhile, the investigation will continue. The crime laboratory has several pieces of evidence that must be examined and there are additional witnesses that will be interviewed and reports written.

This investigation is an example of the cooperative work of several agencies. The State Patrol lends their lab and crime scene experts and Sheriff Allen and Chief Meshishnek work together in assigning the investigative tasks to detectives from both agencies. What this means is that the people of Stevens County are well served by their local law enforcement agencies. It is the only through these agencies working together that the justice system can work the way it must to determine the truth about any situation and hold people accountable.

It is important to remember that just because a person is arrested or charged does not mean they are guilty. A person is presumed to be innocent under our law and this presumption of innocence remains unless and until guilt is established by a plea or by a verdict.