Two Confess Killing Man Found In Grave
Two people have confessed to the killing of a man whose body was found in a shallow grave about 20 miles north of Spokane earlier this month, according to court records.
Alan G. Rochek, 28, and Jacqueline C. Bence, 21, both of Spokane, have been charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Both have confessed to the kidnapping and killing of Richard P. Morley, 30, whose body was found near Eloika Lake in Pend Oreille County on May 5, according to Spokane County District Court documents made public recently.
Murder charges will be filed in Pend Oreille County, said Tony Koures, a deputy prosecutor in that county.
A dispute apparently arose over a debt owed by Morley to Rochek, the court documents say.
Three Spokane residents still are wanted in connection with the case for failure to report a violent crime. They are Carla Lenocker, 21; Debra Monroe, 33; and James Eugene Lawrence, 28. One man, Charles W. Goodwin, 19, was arrested Monday on suspicion of failing to report a violent crime.
Authorities won’t say how the four people are connected to the case.
Investigators received information from various unidentified sources, which led to the arrest of Bence, court records say.
During questioning, she admitted her guilt and personally led investigators to the body, the documents say. The murder occurred about a month before the discovery of the body.
The court records give this account:
Rochek, Bence and some other people were at Rochek’s home at 3115 E. Carlisle, where they pointed guns at Morley. Bence handcuffed and gagged Morley with duct tape as Rochek threatened him.
Rochek then told Morley he and Bence would take the victim for a ride. The purpose of the abduction was to beat him into compliance.
Morley was seated between Rochek and Bence on a front-seat console. When Morley began to struggle, Rochek gave Bence his hunting-style knife to assault Morley. Bence stabbed his right thigh to silence him, the documents say.
Rochek and Bence took Morley to property belonging to Rochek’s family in Pend Oreille County. There, Rochek decided he and Bence would kill Morley so the victim wouldn’t report the kidnapping, the documents say.
Morley was struck in the head with a hammer, stabbed in the back repeatedly and strangled with a cord.
Then, Rochek took Morley’s items from his pockets, and the two buried the victim, the documents say.
At the time of his arrest, Rochek still wore the knife used in the attack in a sheath on his belt, the documents say. Rochek’s family isn’t suspected of wrongdoing in the case, authorities said. Rochek and Bence remain in the Spokane County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.