Barbara Thompson with her attorney, Royce Ferguson, during a break at the coroner's inquest into her daughter's death. / Courtesy photo by Bradd Reynolds
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – After hours of questioning, retired detective Sgt. Glade Austin volunteered information about a witness he had not previously testified about in the coroner’s inquest into Ronda Reynolds death.
Austin said he spoke to a woman friend of Reynolds who relayed a conversation that had taken place between the pair years before Reynolds death, during Reynolds’ previous marriage to Ron Liburdi.
The woman told him, he said, that Reynolds once told her: “If she were to get divorced, she would commit suicide, she would ‘do it right’, she would use a gun and make it look like someone else did it.”
Whether Reynolds, a 33-year-old former trooper killed herself or was shot by someone else 13 years ago in her Toledo home is a question Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod is hoping can be answered during his inquest being held in Chehalis.
She was found on the floor of a small walk-in closet, with a bullet in her head and covered up by a turned-on electric blanket.
A panel of jurors seated on Monday are expected to hear some 40 witnesses throughout this week and part of next, from law enforcement officers and friends and family to experts who analyzed evidence.
Reynolds’ manner death is currently classified as undetermined, following repeated changes over the years by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.
Austin, who supervised the sheriff’s detectives who investigated the Dec. 16, 1998 death, closed the case as a suicide, despite protests from the lead investigator detective Jerry Berry.
Austin also led the inquiry when the case was reopened almost three years later by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
He thought it was a suicide then, and he still does, Austin told the panel of jurors yesterday.
Coroner McLeod asked the former law enforcement officer about an interview with a different woman who indicated Reynolds opposed the idea of suicide.
So, McLeod asked, in the reports there are several people who thought Ronda could be suicidal and several people who did not?
Under questioning – which included primarily McLeod and Austin reading aloud various portions from reports a decade old – Austin related numerous details that Reynolds had troubles not widely known.
“I actually came to conclude she pulled the blanket over her head, had the gun in her right hand and pulled the trigger,” Austin said.
Austin had interviewed Reynolds’ husband, Toledo Elementary School Principal Ron Reynolds, an individual who won’t be testifying during the inquest.
He, and his three sons who were present at the Toledo home when the first deputies arrived have asserted the privilege against self incrimination and are excused by McLeod from appearing.
Austin interviewed Ron Reynolds years ago in his lawyers office.
“His answers did not seem rehearsed, and I came away from the interview with the feeling he was believable, not seeing any of the signs that would indicate someone was not being truthful,” Austin read from his early report.
Austin told McLeod yesterday the oldest son, Jonathan Reynolds, struck him similarly.
Austin noted in his report Ron Reynolds appeared neat and well-groomed, dressed in slacks, a tie and a jacket.
Following is some of what Austin said he learned from the interview:
There were a number of reasons Ron Reynolds didn’t hear a gunshot in the next room in his house, according to Austin.
He was tired, the doors were closed, the closet was carpeted and stuffed with materials that would soak up the sound, according to Austin.
Ron Reynolds told his wife that day he wanted her to leave, their marriage was over, the “trust” was broken over her dishonesty regarding her spending; he was going back to his ex-wife, Austin related.
Also testifying yesterday was former detective Dave Neiser.
He said he’d investigated as many as 600 death scenes in his 20 years as a detective.
Neiser said it was his mistake to move the gun from the body before any photographs were taken. He said he was told it had already been done.
“That was a lesson to me,” Neiser said.
Dr. Daniel Selove, who performed the autopsy, testified yesterday as well.
The cause of death was a contact gunshot wound, with a bullet that entered in the sideburn area of her right temple and lodged near the back of her skull, Selove said.
Selove concluded the manner – suicide, homicide or something else – could not be determined, he said.
Pathologist Dr. Daniel Selove demonstrates a shooter could have been positioned in a variety of locations around where Ronda Reynolds lay. / Courtesy photo by Bradd Reynolds
•••
Read more about the inquest:
• “Inquest reveals confusion over Reynolds crime scene” from KOMOnews.com on Tuesday October 11, 2011 at 6:15 p.m., here
• “Detective stands by Reynolds suicide conclusion” from The (Longview) Daily News on Tuesday Oct. 11, 1011 at 5:31 p.m., here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Why would she have a electric blanket around herself that was turned on and then go into her closet to shoot herself. I can understand her having a blanket around herself but why would she have it turned on. I mean if she had cared so little about her life and intended to end it why would she care if she was cold or not and why would she do it in a closet. It sounds more reasonable that she got out of her bed wrapped a blanket around herself for cover and warmth and went into the closet for her clothing or more likely someone entered her room while she was sleeping under a electric blanket was awaken by them with a gun so she covered herself with the blanket and was backed into the closet and shot. People who commit suicide tend to leave a note….where’s the note? It’s never been said that I have seen is was there any bruises on her and I find it pretty hard to believe her husband didn’t hear a gun shot in his own home no matter how sound a sleeper he was and was it her gun that she was shot with. His story sounds so phoney and full of holes….and it also sounds like his son has a few mental disorders with one being a peeping tom problem. If Mr. Reynolds was still in love with his ex-wife why did he marry Rhonda Reynolds? I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she was the one leaving him and planned on spilling some of his family secrets that might not look so good for a grade school principal. That makes a lot more sense than her wrapping a electric blanket around herself that’s turned on to keep warm and go into a closet to shoot herself. It makes no sense at all her going into a closet to do it. It appears from the articles written about this case that the sheriffs really bungled this case bad and would prefer for it to go down as a suicide just to cover that up, if that is true which I hope it’s not then that is just as sad a story as what happened to that poor officer.
KatieC’s comments are “right on” and show considerable thought into Glade Austin’s testimony.
The “truth” lies only with those who choose not testify at all. They continue to live their lives carrying the burden of the weight of this ”truth” and leave others not able to live with not knowing what it is!
Secrets – too many secrets . . . . .
Truth can set each person free.
I hope the jury members are taking good notes or will be able to review the transcripts of the testimony. Once someone’s truthfulness comes into question the rest of their testimony is also tainted. Just because a person is a retired law enforcement officer does not mean that everything he says should be believed – especially considering Glade Austin’s history of misquoting people! Wasn’t it just yesterday that he claimed it was “an error in semantics” when he put in a report that Rod Englert agreed that this was a suicide, when in fact Rod Englert did not come to that conclusion?
Just who is the woman that Glade Austin spoke to regarding Ronda’s alleged conversion about suicide? Has she been located and what does she have to say about this? And even if this supposed conversation did take place, Ronda did not follow through with those actions. Rather, she divorced her first husband and married Ron. If this conversation occurred years before her first marriage ended, then Ronda’s actions prove this was not meant literally.
Glade Austin needs to take a page out of Dave Neiser’s book. ADMIT YOUR MISTAKES WHEN YOU ARE WRONG!