By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The Olympian reports this evening that the Tenino resident found with a dead woman wrapped in a sleeping bag in the passenger compartment of his truck in August has been found competent to stand trial.
Bernard K. Howell III
Bernard K. Howell III, 26, is charged in Thurston County Superior Court with first-degree murder. Investigators say the 60-year-old woman’s throat was cut. Vanda Skau Boone was a massage therapist who worked in Olympia and lived in Yelm.
The self-employed door-to-door meat salesman told deputies he had no part in her death. A judge ordered him evaluated by mental health specialists at Western State Hospital.
Read The Olympian’s story from this evening here
Read background on the case here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter