April 28, 2009 in City

Stark’s boyfriend to be charged with murder

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Video: Brian Moore news conference

Brian Moore
(Full-size photo)

The boyfriend of a woman convicted of killing her husband in Spokane has been arrested in Orange County, Calif., in connection with the crime.

Brian L. Moore, 42, faces charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the Dec. 9, 2007, killing of Dale Robert Stark.

A jury convicted Shellye Stark, 47, of the same charges March 18 after a trial in Spokane County Superior Court.

Moore was arrested Monday night, according to the Orange County Jail, where he is currently housed. Detectives with the Spokane Police Department major crimes unit made the arrest with Anaheim police. Police found weapons and silencers at a warehouse where Moore was staying.

While police don’t believe Moore was in Spokane the day Dale Stark was killed, the investigation looked at Moore’s connection to Dale Stark’s finances as well as statements he made to co-workers directing them to lie about the case, court papers show.

Several people who knew Moore from his paralegal business told police that Moore had been trying to get money from them to help pay for Stark’s defense, according to the court documents.

Those papers also include statements from Post Falls private investigator Ted Pulver, who told police the murder had been planned “to acquire Dale Stark’s assets.” Shellye Stark hired Pulver, who responded to a subpoena on March 26.

“Brian Moore anticipated and planned to avoid being implicated,” according to arrest papers prepared by Spokane Detective Kip Hollenbeck. “Brian Moore expected monetary gain for his service in assisting Shellye Stark with the financial gains after Dale Stark’s murder.”

Shellye Stark was jailed March 2 after police spotted her with Moore in a 2007 Pontiac Solstice. Stark was prohibited from contacting him because he was on the state’s witness list, but he was never served with a subpoena and was never in the courtroom.

After the trial, Stark fired her attorneys, Russell Bradshaw and Bryan Whitaker, and hired longtime Spokane criminal defense lawyer Julie Twyford.

Stark is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in Spokane Superior Court.

Twyford will be asking Judge Tari Eitzen for a new trial Thursday, with Stark claiming she was off her medications in jail and that Bradshaw and Whitaker made her testify anyway.

The state has listed Whitaker and Bradshaw as witnesses and filed a motion asking Eitzen to order the two to answer questions under oath, despite attorney-client privileges.

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Five comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  laughingmyassoff on April 28 at 11:04 a.m.

  LMAO!!! It's finally time to pay the piper for him. I hope that this jury is just as smart as the jury who didn't buy Shellye's BS.

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  Terry MR on April 28 at 11:29 a.m.

  I guess maybe I wasn't paying close attention to Shellye's trial, but I don't remember any allegation that somebody else helped. Are they going to try this guy with a different set of 'facts' than her ?

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  Charlie on April 28 at 12:10 p.m.

  Could it be that the cops didn't have enough to charge him until now. Patience makes a good case.

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