[1]Ricky A. Riffe, right, stands before Judge Richard Brosey as he is pronounced guilty in the 1985 deaths of Ed and Minnie Maurin today.
Updated at 6:34 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Ricky A. Riffe has been found guilty in the slayings of Ed and Minnie Maurin, the elderly Ethel couple whose bodies were found off a logging road near Adna on Christmas Eve day in 1985, shotgun wounds through their backs.
The jury took about a day and a half of deliberating to reach its decision.
Denise Snell was among the many family members and friends of the couple who gathered in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis this afternoon to hear the verdicts. The trial lasted six weeks, the investigation nearly three decades.
[2]Ed and Minnie Maurin
The Onalaska woman said now that it’s over, her grandparents can be remembered like the wonderful, loving people that they were and not just as homicide victims.
“I want them remembered like that, like it should be,” Snell said.
Two of Minnie’s children, now in their 80s, were in the front bench in the courtroom as they have been throughout the proceedings.
Hazel Oberg said simply, “I’m relieved.”
Denny Hadaller’s emotions kept him from finding exactly the right words, he said.
“I’m elated, and I’m sorry for his family,” Hadaller said. “I knew he was guilty, I knew it in 1992. We just couldn’t prove it.”
Riffe, now 55, was arrested last year in at his home in King Salmon, Alaska and returned to Lewis County. The sheriff’s office has said he and his younger brother were suspects as early as the 1990s, but previous prosecutors wouldn’t file charges.
Hadaller hired private investigators 10 years ago who reviewed the apparent abduction of the couple from their home. New witnesses came forward, according to the sheriff’s office.
On Dec. 19, 1985, Ed Maurin withdrew $8,500 in $100 bills from Sterling Savings Bank in Chehalis and the couple’s blood stained car was found abandoned the following morning at Yard Birds Shopping Center. It wasn’t until five days later they were located.
Investigators found they were shot from behind while sitting in their car on Stearns Hill Road, their bodies dumped.
[3]Ricky A. Riffe
A jury of eight women and four men began their deliberations late on Thursday and at lunchtime today indicated they were nearly finished with their duty, sending a message to the judge that they’d made a mistake on two of the forms and needed new ones.
An hour later, about 60 people crowded into the spectator side of the courtroom. Judge Richard Brosey began reading the verdicts at 2:10 p.m.
Riffe was found guilty on all counts, including first-degree murder, although the jury had the option of second-degree given to them in their instructions.
They found him guilty also of two counts each of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery and one count of first-degree burglary as well.
The jury answered yes on the special verdict forms, that they found the crimes involved particularly vulnerable victims, deliberate cruelty and the defendant showed an egregious lack of remorse.
Ed Maurin was 81, his wife Minnie was 83 years old.
“They answered everything we wanted to be answered,” Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said.
Meyer gave credit to the hard work of detective Bruce Kimsey and Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.
“And to the family, for never giving up,” Meyer said.
Riffe’s partner of 24 years, Sherry Tibbetts, and her son and another relation left the courtroom once he was taken away. It didn’t appear he even looked their direction before leaving.
Local attorney Sam Groberg stood in for Riffe’s lawyer, John Crowley, who had to be in another court today.
Riffe was charged as as the principal player or as an accomplice, and only the jury knows exactly what it believed occurred.
One witness testified he saw both brothers inside the Maurin’s vehicle the morning of Dec. 19, heading away from their home. Other witnesses who saw the car that day at key places saw one person in the backseat.
Numerous witnesses picked out both brothers from montages, brothers who some witnesses said did everything together. John Gregory Riffe died last year at age 50 before he could be charged.
Crowley this evening said he’s not a sore loser but it wasn’t a fair prosecution, and the things he saw were appalling.
“I’ve never seen a case where as a rule, witnesses changed from what they told police initially to when they testified,” Crowley said. “And the prosecutors did it with a straight face.”
It’s not over, according to Crowley.
“We’re not giving up, we’re going to investigate and Rick’s gonna get justice,” he said.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
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For background, read “Maurin murder trial: What will the jury decide?” from Saturday November 16, 2013, here [4]
[5]Hazel Oberg and Denny Hadaller embrace, surrounded by family after the verdict comes in guilty in the 1985 deaths of their mother and step father.
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[6]Ricky A. Riffe’s longtime girlfriend Sherry Tibbetts, center, and family wait for the verdict to be read.
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[7]Hazel Oberg talks with a news reporter while her niece Denise Snell looks on.
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[8]Denny Hadaller sits with his daughter while Ricky Riffe talks with his stand-in lawyer today in Lewis County Superior Court.