Acquitted Once, Man Faces New Assault Charge Freed After Girlfriend Died Before Trial, Man Now Accused Of Assaulting Second Woman

A Republic man faces a new domestic assault charge after being acquitted of beating a Colville woman who later died of a gunshot wound.

Ward F. Cromwell Jr., 44, was awaiting trial on a charge that he assaulted his former girlfriend, Diane E. Parrish, 37, when she died of a gunshot wound Nov. 6. Now he is accused of assaulting a new girlfriend, Dawn Taylor.

Cromwell, who operates a used-car lot near Republic, faces trial April 23 in Ferry County District Court on a charge of fourth-degree domestic assault.

He is accused of pouring hot coffee on Taylor and threatening to hit her with his fist and a telephone.

A District Court jury acquitted Cromwell Jan. 15 on two earlier fourth-degree assault charges involving Parrish and a companion. Cromwell was accused of pummeling Parrish and Stuart L. Almquist on June 9 when he caught them together at a stock car racetrack near Republic.

Deputy Prosecutor Steve Graham said Parrish told him Cromwell had keys to her apartment in Colville and she was “scared to death of him.”

“She stated that Cromwell has threatened her life, and has said that he will get her sooner or later,” Graham stated in his complaint against Cromwell.

Parrish died before she could testify against Cromwell. She was found in her apartment with a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, fired at close range from her own pistol. Colville police believed at first that she had committed suicide, but there was no suicide note and suspicious circumstances prompted a homicide investigation.

Colville Police Chief Damond Meshishnek said police have a suspect, whom he declined to identify. He said the investigation is continuing.

Meshishnek said Parrish’s apartment door was unlocked when her body was discovered, but acquaintances said she customarily kept her door locked.

Meanwhile, Graham is appealing a jury decision to require Ferry County to pay Cromwell’s attorney fees in the assault charges for which he was acquitted. Graham contends District Court Judge Linda Eaton was wrong to allow the jury to consider Cromwell’s claim that he was defending himself against Almquist.

State law allows defendants to recover their attorney fees if they successfully argue self-defense, but Graham believes Cromwell didn’t present enough evidence that he was defending himself. Eaton has scheduled a hearing Friday to determine the amount Cromwell is to be reimbursed.

, DataTimes