Second suspect in death arrested

The second suspect in the death of a man whose body was found Saturday in the Spokane River was arrested when he arrived in Spokane on a bus from Portland, police reported Sunday.

Police, acting on a tip, arrested Donald L. Smiley-Lyle, 17, about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, said Cpl. Tom Lee, Spokane police spokesman.

The other suspect, Robert A. Entel Jr., 18, remains in custody in Salem after being arrested by Oregon State Police.

Smiley-Lyle and Entel had been the subjects of a nationwide search after Spokane detectives began to suspect them in the disappearance of Bud Robert Johnson, 45, of Spokane, The Spokesman-Review reported Sunday. Johnson, who lived alone in an apartment at 1723 W. Maxwell Ave., was reported missing on March 10.

Oregon State Police found Smiley-Lyle and Entel early Saturday at a rest stop near Albany. Entel submitted to questioning, but Smiley-Lyle, refusing to cooperate, walked away from the state police office in Salem.

About 4 p.m. Saturday, members of the Spokane City-County Water Rescue Team pulled Johnson’s body from the Spokane River near Boulder Beach in Spokane Valley. Spokane detectives obtained first-degree murder warrants for both teens.

With Entel under arrest in Oregon, Spokane police received information that Smiley-Lyle had boarded a Greyhound bus in Portland bound for Spokane. He was arrested when the bus arrived at the Spokane Intermodal Center at First Avenue and Bernard Street and was booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.

An autopsy on Johnson’s body will be today. Police hope to begin extradition proceedings for Entel later this week.