Former Deputy Charged In Double Homicide Investigators Still Have Few Clues As To Motive In Lewiston Shooting Deaths

Washington authorities are holding a former sheriff’s deputy in connection with the killing of two people at an auto body shop in Lewiston.

Kenneth D. Arrasmith, 44, of Sunnyside, Wash., was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, said Ron Koeper, sheriff of Nez Perce County.

Arrasmith turned himself in to police in Clarkston, Wash., shortly after the fatal shootings of Ronald Bingham, 47, and his wife, Luella A. Bingham, 43. Both were from Clarkston.

Nez Perce County authorities said Arrasmith served as an Asotin County sheriff’s deputy in the 1970s.

No one else at the garage was hurt when gunfire erupted shortly before noon Wednesday.

Ronald Bingham had been working at the shop as a mechanic.

Oren Raney, who lives near the garage, said he heard between 16 and 18 shots and saw a half-dozen people run screaming from the building.

“There were numerous shots fired but the exact number is not know right now,” Koeper said.

He said each victim was shot more than once, but did not know how many times.

Investigators said they knew little of the motive in the case.

Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Whitcomb said only that one of the victims and the gunman apparently had a prior dispute.

Witnesses said the gunman walked up to one of the victims and spoke before opening fire, Whitcomb said. There didn’t appear to be an argument before the shooting began, he said.

The gunman, armed with a 9-mm handgun, left the scene in a pickup, authorities said.

At least two people at the scene were taken away for questioning and later released.

Arrasmith, who was being held without bond in the Asotin County Jail, declined to waive extradition to Lewiston, and Nez Perce County Prosecutor Denise Rosen said it could take one to two months to bring Arrasmith to Idaho to face charges.

The Binghams have a 15-year-old son who is staying with his grandmother, Koeper said.