[1]Corey Morgan’s wrecked truck on Forest Service Road 73 west of Morton. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office
Updated at 1:26 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Detectives didn’t buy the story about how Corey Ross Morgan’s fiancee suffered her fatal injuries in a wreck on a logging road outside Morton and an autopsy indicated she died from strangulation, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Morgan, 32, of Randle, was arrested on Friday for second-degree murder.
The sheriff’s office said there is a history of domestic violence between Morgan and the victim, 48-year-old Brenda L. Bail of Chehalis.
Aid was called about 1:30 a.m. on Friday to Forest Service Road 73 after Morgan showed up at a house about two miles away and asked the resident to call 911 because he had wrecked his truck and Bail wasn’t breathing.
Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said apparently when aid arrived, Bail had no pulse, they began CPR and transported her to the hospital.
Detectives became suspicious of Morgan’s detailed story of what occurred, according to the sheriff’s office.
He said the couple was visiting their “special spot” when three men jumped them, according to the sheriff’s office. Morgan also told detectives they beat Bail badly but he was able to “thwart” them off because he knew Tae-Kwon-Do, the sheriff’s office said.
He said he put her in his truck and as he sped down the logging road, he lost control and crashed into an embankment, causing his fiancee to hit her head on the dashboard.
The sheriff’s office says Morgan named Roger Etter of Kelso as one of the attackers, but Etter contacted law enforcement over the weekend and has been cleared of any involvement.
Brown said there were no indications Morgan was hurt and even the state patrol didn’t see the collision as one with enough impact to have caused major injuries to Bail.
Brown states Bail was dead at the wreck scene, even though she was transported by ambulance to the hospital. Detectives began their investigation at Morton General Hospital and don’t know if Bail died before the wreck or while Morgan had gone for help, according to Brown.
An autopsy conducted on Friday showed Bail died from asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation, with contributing factors of blunt force trauma to her face, according to authorities. The sheriff’s office says they don’t believe she was injured from the wreck.
Morgan is scheduled to go before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court where his bail amount will be set.