In brief: Murder suspect nabbed in Fresno

A man wanted for murder in Okanogan County has been captured in California, authorities announced Monday.

Nicolas Perez-Patistan, 25, of Brewster, Wash., is believed to be involved in the robbery and fatal beating of Carlos Porras-Trujillo, 37, on July 17 in Brewster, according to the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office. Porras-Trujillo was beaten over the head with a club and his body dumped in an orchard, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators learned Perez-Patistan had fled to Fresno, where he had previously lived. The Sheriff’s Office contacted the U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force, and the suspect was arrested Saturday on a second-degree murder charge with the help of the Fresno Police Department.

Authorities say Perez-Patistan claims to belong to a gang in Fresno. Porras-Trujillo had previously lived in the Fresno area. He is survived by a wife and children in Mexico, said Frank Rogers, Okanogan County sheriff.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Cyclist death case court date set

An 18-year-old woman accused of leaving the scene of a crash that killed a bicyclist is to be arraigned on a felony charge next week.

Megan C. Skillingstad is scheduled to appear before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael Price on Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. on one count failure to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Skillingstad is accused of striking Dennis Widener, 67, as he rode his bike June 23 on Empire Avenue at North Division Street, just blocks from his home.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed to support the charge against Skillingstad, a friend’s mother helped persuade her to tell her parents about the crash on July 30. Skillingstad’s mother was upset and called her “awful names,” the friend’s mother told police.

But police seized Skillingstad’s 1996 Nissan Sentra on Aug. 5, one day after a friend called police and said she’d been trying to persuade Skillingstad to turn herself in to no avail.

Meghann M. Cuniff