October 19, 2011 in News, City

Inquest rules trooper’s death homicide

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CHEHALIS, Wash. — The 1998 shooting death of a Washington state trooper was a homicide and the woman’s husband and stepson were responsible, an inquest jury concluded today.

The verdict drew gasps in a small Chehalis courtroom. It also ended a long campaign by Ronda Reynold’s mother, Barb Thompson, of Spokane, to prove her daughter’s death was not a suicide, as it was initially ruled.

Jurors did not specify why they suspected Ronda Reynolds’ husband, Ronald Reynolds, and her stepson, Jonathan Reynolds. The jury’s rulings were unanimous.

Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said he’ll issue arrest warrants within 24 hours for the men. They could not be reached immediately by telephone for comment.

The coroner’s office initially determined that the death was a suicide. The new coroner, McLeod, agreed to the inquest that began last week.

Thompson said the ruling was justice for her. The jury “found the courage to stand up and do the right thing,” she said.

“I’m ecstatic,” Thompson added. “I’m relieved that we do have a good judicial system.”

Ronda Reynolds graduated from Cheney High School in 1983 and enjoyed quick success as a State Patrol trooper in Western Washington. But by 1998, her marriage of less than a year was ending and she eagerly planned a trip to Spokane for Christmas to visit her mother and grandmother.

She bought a plane ticket and arranged a ride, but Reynolds, 33, never arrived at Spokane International Airport.

Reynolds was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head in a closest in her Toledo, Wash., home in December 1998.

Thompson said Ronald and Jonathan had built increasing hatred of her daughter in the year prior to her death, and Thompson always believed the case was a homicide.

She spent a decade demanding that the Lewis County sheriff and coroner investigate it as such. She got the support of numerous investigators who helped her without charge.

Her quest resulted in a 2010 Ann Rule book, “In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds and Her Mother’s Unceasing Quest for the Truth.”

In 2009, under a state law that had never been used, she won the right to have a judge evaluate the case, and a jury that year ruled the coroner’s office was wrong to label the case a suicide.

“My job was to get homicide put on my daughter’s death certificate,” she said. “How they handle the suspects and how they prosecute them, that’s in the hands of the law.”

Thompson has been in Chehalis watching the proceedings and now plans to return to Spokane.

“It was a long journey, but it was definitely worth it,” she said.

Reporter Chelsea Bannach of The Spokesman-Review contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Five comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  Upthewazzu on October 19 at 5:10 p.m.

  Errrr…..anyone else wondering why it took 13 years to come to this conclusion? The story is short on details.

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  norpass on October 19 at 5:10 p.m.

  Holy crap Spokesman, you’re a little light on the details. Trooper Reynolds was shot dead in 1998? We are up to 2011 now. WTF??? Thirteen year gap?
  Jeez Spokesman, ya think maybe you could fill in some blanks here?

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  lowtechmaster on October 19 at 5:28 p.m.

  The gaps in time and in the story need to be filled in SOON!!

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  kimberlyl on October 19 at 5:38 p.m.

  We’ve added a link to take you to some of our previous stories about Ronda Reynold’s death. We’ll add more details as we get them from the Associated Press.

  Kimberly Lusk
  Spokesman-Review

• 

  brianrbreen on October 19 at 5:43 p.m.

  http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sirens/2011/jul/07/inquest-set-ex-troopers-98-death/