By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Michael Golden got his wish. Sort of. Maybe.
Two of the three homicide cases the elected Lewis County prosecutor was complaining about last week as being “backlogged” at the sheriff’s office should now be in his hands so he can make charging decisions.
Sheriff’s office detective Sgt. Dusty Breen said yesterday the last piece of information in the investigation of April’s fatal shooting in Onalaska of a suspected burglar came back the day before and he notified the lead deputy prosecutor in the case.
“Our office is sending it on to the prosecutor’s office by normal channels,” Breen said yesterday.
Golden, who is facing a contested election in November, took the sheriff’s office to task last week by publicly announcing he was not the reason no decisions have been made about three cases from the last year that remained in the investigation phase. He pointed out the danger that aging cases are more difficult to prove.
Sheriff Steve Mansfield asked Breen and his Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown to respond to an inquiry following the finger pointing.
Brown is a primary spokesperson for the sheriff’s office and a former detective. She called Golden’s contentions inappropriate, misguided and absurd.
“The detective division prides itself on keeping in close contact with the lead deputy prosecutors on cases,” Brown said. “We keep them apprised. We want justice to be served.”
Detectives turned over their findings in July on the April 19 death of Thomas McKenzie, 56, of Morton. Fifty-nine-year-old Ronald Brady had fired upon two suspected burglars at his Onalaska home, according to the sheriff’s office.
The prosecutor’s office requested an examination of Brady’s computer, basically “looking toward the shooter’s mental state,” according to Breen.
Knowing the turn around time for the state crime lab to conduct such computer analysis averages about eight months, the sheriff’s office engaged a Thurston County detective certified to do the work, Breen said
The results came back Thursday. Breen didn’t reveal what they found.
Sheriff Mansfield has already made it clear he feels the homeowner’s actions were reasonable, but whether charges will be filed is Golden’s’ decision.
Breen, who has been the supervisor of the detective division for almost two years, said it’s not out of the ordinary for some cases to take this long.
“It’s hard for people I think sometimes, that are outside this business (to understand),” Breen said. The detectives’ jobs are not finished just because they arrest someone, he said.
The oldest homicide arrest still in the pipeline is related to 15-year-old Nickolas Barnes who died Sept. 21, 2009 of alcohol poisoning after he was found passed out in the front yard at an Onalaska home. Detectives concluded the adult resident had provided alcohol during a party and on Oct. 1 arrested James W. Taylor, 28, for second-degree manslaughter.
The prosecutor’s office requested follow up investigation after the arrest and detectives did that, Breen said. Detectives got a request for additional follow up which more or less coincided with the lead detective on the case going on leave.
The family knew the detective could be out a month or so but wanted him to be the one to handle it, so they honored that, Breen said. But when he returned, they were hit with the case of Austin King in Morton who vanished and then was found dead, and then last month’s triple homicide, Breen said.
The sergeant said the prosecutor’s requests for more information have all been addressed and late last week he told the records division to send the three-ring binder to the deputy prosecutor on the case.
The third case is still pending, Breen said.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Erik R. Massa, 42, of Randle, for second-degree murder after 58-year-old Guy LaFontaine died from injuries following an assault in March in Randle.
It wasn’t until the middle of last month detectives got the results from the state crime lab on analysis of blood from the scene, Breen said. About the same time, the sheriff’s office got some information from a family member which could be a key element in the case, he said. They are awaiting some documentation of that which the sergeant didn’t elaborate upon.
Breen has four detectives in his division. A fifth position has been left vacant since a retirement early last year because of budget constraints, he said.
Golden said last week he’s concerned about the cases hitting his office all at once and stretching his resources too thin.
He is currently handling the prosecution of two men for last month’s triple-homicide in the Onalaska-Salkum area and contemplating upgrading the charges to make it a capital murder case.
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Read Lewis County Sirens July 14, 2010 news story about the Onalaska shooting case here.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter