Dead pair ID’d; man sought
A couple found dead Friday morning near Dobson Pass, north of Wallace were identified Tuesday as 20-year-old Neil Howard and 18-year-old Cynthia Bewick.
The Silver Valley residents died from gunshot wounds to the head, Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds said. Authorities said they are unclear what prompted the killings.
Jon Allen Kienholz Jr., also known as “Bubba,” is wanted for questioning, Reynalds said Tuesday. The 20-year-old recently changed his hairstyle to a mohawk.
“The suspect and the victims were rumored as players in the drug culture,” Reynalds said. In the Wallace area, the primary drugs are methamphetamine and marijuana.
On Friday, a Wallace man came across Howard’s body around 8 a.m. while picking huckleberries in a remote area on top of the pass. Bewick was found nearby after sheriff’s deputies arrived to investigate.
Bewick would have attended Kellogg High School this fall as a senior, school officials said. Howard and Bewick were not married and had a child together nine months ago, Reynalds said. The baby is with Bewick’s family.
Anyone with information regarding Kienholz’s location should call 911.
Jody Lawrence-Turner
Spokane
Man charged with abusing baby
A 9-month-old Marion, Mont., boy was in critical condition Tuesday at Sacred Heart Medical Center, and his mother’s boyfriend is charged with sexually and physically assaulting the baby.
Spokane police detectives are assisting Kalispell, Mont., authorities in the investigation.
Shane Nickerson, 20, was charged Monday with sexual intercourse without consent, sexual assault, aggravated assault and criminal endangerment, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office said.
Flathead County Justice Court Judge David M. Ortley set Nickerson’s bail at $750,000 Monday.
According to court documents, sheriff’s deputies were called to Kalispell Regional Medical Center about 10 a.m. Saturday after medical personnel reported the child had bruises on his head, a bloody mouth and injuries consistent with sexual abuse.
The child’s mother told detectives that Nickerson had volunteered to watch the child while she slept.
From staff and wire reports
More screening for birth defects
Washington state health officials are screening all newborns for an additional 14 disabling or life-threatening conditions in compliance with new regulations adopted by the Board of Health to help find birth defects that can be disabling or deadly.
Each newly screened condition is caused by defects in how the body breaks down proteins or uses stored fats to produce energy. Each can be treated. Testing is performed on a blood sample taken from the baby’s heel.
For more information, visit www.doh.wa.gov.
John Stucke