In brief: Woman guilty of uncle’s murder
A North Idaho woman who killed her uncle last May and burned his body has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Melisa R. Bates, 28, is to be sentenced May 18 for the murder of Robert D. Marek, 43, at his home eight miles south of St. Maries, where Bates had been staying.
Bates originally was charged with first-degree murder, but the charge was reduced as part of a plea deal approved Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Bates shot Marek with a handgun before beating him with a metal rod, Benewah County Prosecutor Doug Payne said.
Man on probation suspected in robbery
A 21-year-old vehicle prowling suspect chased down by a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy Tuesday night begged for leniency and said he had recently been released from prison, officials say.
Orlando Jaramillo, who was a Crime Stoppers fugitive just two months ago, told Deputy Robert Satake he was on probation and had been “doing good” but needed a cellphone, didn’t have money and decided to steal a phone from a car in a North Division Street parking lot, according to a news release.
Satake was patrolling the area of Division and Cascade Way about 10 p.m. when he heard yelling about a robbery and saw a man chasing another man through the parking lot of Tire Rama.
Satake drove into the Costco parking lot, got out of his patrol car and ordered the man to stop, but he continued running before Satake caught up with him and detained him.
The male victim said he and his friend were getting fuel and a soda at a gas station when Jaramillo asked for a cigarette, according to the Sheriff’s Office. They told him no, and when they left the store they found their cellphones missing and saw Jaramillo running across the street.
Thieves strip copper pipe from house
Thieves stripped a near-empty north Spokane home of copper piping on Tuesday, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
A neighbor who watches the home in the area of 8700 N. Country Homes Blvd. said the home appeared normal when he left for work about 5 a.m., but when he returned about 4 p.m., the garage door would not open.
Sheriff’s deputies say thieves forced their way into the home and tore copper piping from the laundry room and bathroom walls, as well as from a crawl space and from the basement ceiling. Drywall was damaged extensively.
Another neighbor said he drove past the home about 7 a.m. and saw two men on opposite sides of the street wearing hooded sweatshirts and carrying large garbage bags.
The man said he saw an older gray Ford van parked on Weipert Road that he’d never seen before. The first three digits of the license plate possibly were 730.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.
Tattooed name gives wanted man away
TWIN FALLS, Idaho – A 19-year-old Idaho man with his last name tattooed on his forearm apparently tried to give police a fake name and was arrested.
Dylan Edward Contreras was arrested early Saturday on outstanding warrants, the Times-News reported.
An officer said he told three men who were walking in the street with a dog to move to the sidewalk, and that one looked like he might run away, so he asked for identification.
Contreras identified himself as Emiliano Velesco, and a police database search found no matches. The officer then had a dispatcher run a check with the birthday he was given and the last name tattooed on the forearm.
Contreras had three warrants for failure to appear on charges including providing false information.
Ultra-pure heroin blamed in seven deaths
LONGVIEW, Wash. – The Cowlitz County coroner says superpure heroin is blamed for the deaths of seven people in the county in five days.
Coroner Tim Davidson told the Daily News on Wednesday that “they’re dying with the syringe still in their hands.”
The victims include a man who died in a grocery store restroom and a man who died last Friday in Kelso but whose body was found Tuesday night along a creek.
Deputy Coroner Brett Dundas says medical examiners in Vancouver and Portland are also talking about the extremely pure heroin, sometimes called “hot heroin.”
Dundas says people who take the drug go into immediate respiratory failure.
Guards break up fight at state penitentiary
WALLA WALLA – Guards at the Washington State Penitentiary broke up a fight that started with two inmates in a commons area and escalated until 14 inmates were involved.
Spokeswoman Shari Hall said no inmates or staff members were hurt in the Tuesday evening fight.
The dispute took place inside one of the four close-custody units that make up the West Complex, the prison’s second-highest custody level.
Those involved were put in segregation while the staff investigates.
The penitentiary houses more than 2,000 offenders in minimum-custody, close-custody and maximum-custody units.