The final of five suspects pleaded guilty Thursday to kidnapping in connection with a case where a woman was tied up in a Spokane hotel and had her head shaved before being dumped in a rock pit by her assailants.

Desiree N. Walling, 31, pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping as part of an Alford plea, which acknowledges prosecutors could likely prove the charge. She also agreed to plead guilty to first-degree and second-degree trafficking in stolen property as part of a separate sentence that will run at the same time as the kidnapping incarceration: 51 months.

Read the rest of Tom Clouse's story here.

Past coverage:

May 13, 2011: Five accused of kidnapping, torture

That was fast.

A 35-year-old man arrested for a robbery nearly three weeks ago has pleaded guilty.

Shawn James Combs was sentenced to about 3 1/2 years in prison for first-degree robbery last week in Spokane County Superior Court.

He'd made his first court appearance May 2 after being arrested on a warrant for the Feb. 2 hold-up at the Select Inn Motel, 1420 W. 2nd Ave.

Combs got $150 in the robbery. He's required to pay back the money as part of his sentencing.

He remains in the Spokane County Jail awaiting transport to prison.
  

A 35-year-old man has been charged with a gunpoint robbery at a Spokane motel that netted $150.

Shawn James Combs was arrested Tuesday for the Feb. 2 hold-up at the Select Inn Motel, 1420 W. 2nd Ave.

Combs is accused of robbing the motel owner after inquiring about a job while carrying a hammer, then returning with a handgun, according to court documents.

A man who accompanied Combs to the motel said they rode bicycles there, and Combs told him he needed to collect money from the owner. The man did not participate in the robbery but was bitten by a police K-9 after the heist and contacted by officers. He identified Combs from a photo montage, as did the motel owner.

Prosecutors summonsed Combs to court after filing charges April 9, but he didn't show up and a $100,000 warrant was issued for his arrest.

He remains in the Spokane County Jail after appearing in court today.
  

A man who borrowed $4 from an employee at a downtown Spokane motel returned to rob her with a hammer, police say.

Eric Kevin Miller, 36, was arrested on Friday, two days after police say he left his wallet at the Select Inn, 1420 W. 2nd Ave., for collateral after borrowing the cash.

He returned about two hours later and threatened the employee with a masonry hammer when she wouldn't return his wallet, according to court documents. He stole $100 from the cash register, police say, then went to Northern Quest Casino.

From the casino, Miller went to a woman's apartment, where they talked about the bible and he told her he'd robbed an elderly woman at the Select Inn, police say. The woman awoke to her TV missing, along with three butcher knives, $250 from her purse, her apartment keys and miscellaneous bills.  

Miller told police he traded the TV for methamphetamine, according to court documents.

Miller appeared in Superior Court Monday on a first-degree robbery charge and remains in jail on $50,000 bond.

Five suspects have been accused of kidnapping and torturing a Spokane woman before shaving her head and writing “narc” and “thief” on her face.

Waylon M. “Creeper” Azure, 33, pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and torture charges Thursday in Spokane County Superior Court, five weeks after police say he helped abduct Doreen Wiker from the Select Inn, 1420 W. Second Ave., in Spokane.

Wiker said one of her assailants was in a wheelchair when he threatened her with the gun.

Read the rest of my story here.