Second man on trial in beating, death

Russell Tiwater thought it was important to honor his slain brother’s memory, but he couldn’t bear to sit through the trials of the two men accused of killing Rick Tiwater.

“I don’t want to see the pictures,” the brother said, referring to the gruesome crime-scene photos that become a nightmarish part of homicide trials.

That nightmare continued Wednesday, with opening statements in the first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and assault trial of accused killer Ben A. Burkey, who is the second man to stand trial for Tiwater’s slaying. The other, 41-year-old James Tesch, was convicted by a jury Friday on the same six charges Burkey faces. Tesch’s sentencing is scheduled for July 7.

Russell’s wife, Vernie, has attended the murder trials for her husband.

“We were pleased with how that turned out,” Vernie Tiwater said of Tesch’s conviction. “We can hardly wait for the sentencing.”

A coveted 1999 Harley Davidson and a rumor that 52-year-old Rick Tiwater was a police snitch are what investigators think led to his death.

According to prosecutors’ accounts of the case, Burkey and Tesch assaulted Tiwater with a hammer and a golf club inside Burkey’s Spokane home. The two then drove Tiwater to a remote area where the beating continued. The men allegedly torched Tiwater’s face and hair, and ran over him with a car. Then, barely alive, Tiwater was told to pull down his pants and start running, prosecutors said. He made it about 20 feet.

Tiwater was found on Sept. 5 when a man riding a four-wheeler spotted the victim’s half-naked body on a trail leading from the 13400 block of East Laurel Road in north Spokane County.

Vernie Tiwater said Wednesday was the first time she had seen a photo that showed where Tiwater had dug his fingers into the dirt as he was dragged in the area where his dead body was eventually found.

She said she wouldn’t be telling her husband about the photo. “He doesn’t want to know.”

Burkey’s lawyer, Tracy Collins, said his client was a man who lost control of a situation in his own home. He said that it was Tesch who assaulted Tiwater and Burkey was in a drunken stupor. It was Tesch who drove the car to the remote area in North Spokane County, and Burkey was passed out, he said.

Collins also explained that his client comes from a world of people “we don’t know much about,” which involves drugs, alcohol and bikers.