In brief: Woman sentenced for killing husband
A 61-year-old Newport, Wash., woman was sentenced Friday to nearly 32 years in prison for murdering her 70-year-old husband.
A Pend Oreille County jury convicted Newport resident Mary Rosalee Gray in October of first-degree murder in the May 2006 shooting death of her husband, Robert Gray.
In a three-hour hearing Friday, Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker handed down the maximum sentence requested by Deputy Prosecutor Mike Carbone, including a mandatory five years for use of a firearm.
Defense attorneys Chris Bajalcaliev and Barrett Scudder called for a 25-year sentence. Baker rejected Gray’s attempt Thursday to fire Bajalcaliev and Scudder after they tried unsuccessfully to win her a new trial.
At her sentencing, Gray told Baker she didn’t know what happened to Robert Gray but she didn’t think he was dead. Authorities found his body in May 2006, buried on Gray’s daughter’s rural property near Sacheen Lake, where a witness saw Gray operating a backhoe.
Gray’s 71-year-old boyfriend, John Kingsley Pate, pleaded guilty in October to first-degree rendering criminal sentence, and was sentenced Nov. 1 to nine months in the county jail. Pate admitted helping Gray bury her husband and fleeing with her to Billings, Mont., where they were arrested.
According to Carbone, Gray has had at least eight husbands and married Robert Gray shortly after he was widowed in February 2005. She got him to deed his home in Newport to her on May 17, 2006, and she shot him five days later.
Region
About 3 inches of snow predicted
The National Weather Service on Friday posted a winter storm watch for 3 to 6 inches of snow starting tonight through late Sunday across lower elevations in the region.
Light snow or snow flurries are expected today before the first of two low pressure systems moves into the region this evening followed by a second storm on Sunday. Up to 3 inches of snow is possible this evening in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas, forecasters said.
A second storm to arrive on Sunday was over the central Pacific Ocean on Friday and tapping into moist subtropical air. Forecasters said Sunday’s storm should initially bring up to 3 inches of snow before its milder air replaces the winterlike cold currently over the region. Up to a foot of snow is forecasted for northern counties of Eastern Washington and North Idaho through the weekend. Mountains to the north could see up to 3 feet.
Snow should change to rain in most valley areas late Sunday. Rain would continue on Monday.
Spokane
Four juveniles arrested for racist grafitti
Four juveniles were arrested Friday for painting numerous swastikas and racial slurs in 10 locations within a five-block area of North Spokane.
The red and green spray-painted graffiti was found on buildings, fences, vehicles and garages between the 2300 and 2800 blocks of North Lincoln, said Officer Devin Presta, a Spokane Police spokesman.
Police learned of the graffiti about 6:30 a.m. Friday, Presta said. With the help of a Spokane Public Schools resource officer, four suspects were located and arrested. One was found hiding in the attic of a residence.
The juveniles were booked into the Juvenile Detention Facility each on two counts of malicious harassment and two counts of malicious mischief, all felonies, Presta said.
City to pay motorcyclist $105,000
A motorcyclist hit by a city garbage truck in 2003 will receive $105,000 from the city of Spokane.
Spokane resident Robin Hegney, 44, was riding south on Freya Street when he was hit by a garbage truck driven by Mark O’Donnell turning from 28th Avenue on Aug. 12, 2003, according to claims filed with the city.
In 2006, Hegney filed a claim for $750,000 with the city for neck, back and brain injuries. He also filed suit in superior court.
On Monday, the Spokane City Council unanimously voted to settle the claim and suit for $105,000.
Sex offender moved to downtown
The Spokane Police want to notify downtown residents that a level 3 sex offender has moved into the area.
Carleton S. Smith, 43, was convicted of molesting a 5-year-old girl in Spokane County in 1999, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, a Spokane Police spokeswoman. Smith is under state supervision.
Smith is described as 6 feet tall and 200 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.
Reward offered in drive-by shooting
Secret Witness is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the identification and capture of a person who killed a North Spokane man in a Nov. 12 drive-by shooting.
The shooting occurred shortly after midnight at 2413 N. Dakota St.. Daniel J. Burgess was killed by a bullet fired through a window. Police do not believe he was the intended target.
Information offered by Spokane Police about the suspected shooter is slim, but he may have been in a white 1990s American car.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call (509) 327-5111. Tips can be made anonymously.
Information sought on fugitive ex-con
Secret Witness is offering a reward to anyone who provides information leading to the capture of a wanted man.
Richard Jack Smith, 30, is wanted on a Spokane County Superior Court civil bench warrant, but he has past convictions for assaulting officers, illegally possessing firearms, drug offenses and theft.
Smith is 6-foot-1, weighs 280 pounds and has hazel eyes and red hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call (509) 327-5111.
From staff and wire reports