Russell evidence ruling delayed
A ruling expected this week on the admissibility of blood evidence in the Frederick Russell vehicular homicide trial was delayed on Friday.
Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier put off a ruling until after a hearing Monday to discuss new records that defense attorneys have obtained from an employee of the state toxicology lab. The lab apparently destroyed Russell’s blood samples accidentally, and his defense wants the case thrown out or the blood tests showing he was drunk at the time of the accident suppressed.
Russell faces three charges each of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault for his role in a four-car wreck on the Moscow-Pullman Highway that killed three in June 2001. He fled the country before his initial trial in the case and was arrested in Ireland last year.
His trial is set to begin Oct. 15 in Kelso; Frazier ruled this week that the trial would be moved to Cowlitz County over concerns that media coverage of the case would make it hard to seat an impartial jury.
Highway 26 crash leaves three hurt
Three people were injured in a Friday morning crash on Washington Highway 26, just 12 miles west of Colfax, according to the Washington State Patrol.
One driver, 21-year-old Dale A. Berg, of Moscow, was airlifted to Deaconess Medical Center after he went off the roadway and then overcorrected and crossed the centerline at about 8 a.m., hitting another car driving in the opposite direction, the State Patrol said. Berg’s condition was unavailable.
The driver of that car, 54-year-old Kathleen B. Cole, of Pullman, and her passenger, 39-year-old Jeffrey J. Marlitt, of Pullman, were taken by ambulance to a hospital, where they were treated and released.
Spokane
Woman sought in carjacking
Spokane police arrested a man Thursday in northwest Spokane after he was accused of assaulting a woman and stealing her car. Police are still looking for his female accomplice.
Police said the carjacking happened about 7:30 p.m. on the 1700 block of West Courtland when Carlos H. Hodges, 34, ran into a 1994 Mercury driven by a 22-year-old woman. When she stopped, Hodges reached through the window and attacked the woman, pulling her out of the car.
He and another woman jumped inside and stole the car, officers said.
Police later found the car near Liberty Avenue and Belt Street and then used a police dog to track the suspects, who got away by hopping into a cab.
Police later located Hodges and arrested him on first-degree robbery and second-degree assault charges.
The woman is still at large. She is described as white, 5-foot-5, slightly heavy with brown hair in a messy ponytail. She is believed to be 25-30 years old.
Hikers’ funeral to be next week
Funeral services for a father and son killed in a climbing accident in the Cascade Mountains near Leavenworth have been scheduled for 2 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Women’s Club, Ninth and Walnut, Spokane.
Otto Vaclavek and his 12-year-old son, Max, died Sunday. Their bodies were found near the bottom of the Colchuck Glacier. A family spokesman said the pair appeared to have fallen while descending the glacier between Dragontail and Colchuck peaks.
The Vaclavek Family Memorial Fund has been established at Spokane Teachers Credit Union University District Branch, 528 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., Spokane, WA 99202.