In brief: Pharmacy worker faces more charges
Prosecutors are adding money laundering charges to the list of woes for a Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center pharmacy technician accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of prescription pills from his workplace during a four-year period.
New allegations against Paul Martsin, 25, were made in court documents filed this week that detail surveillance video showing Martsin placing hydrocodone pill and cough syrup bottles in a backpack, then altering records to conceal the alleged theft. Police also seized Martsin’s bank records, which show multiple cash deposits totaling more than $17,000 that investigators think indicate criminal resale of the drugs.
The Washington state Gambling Commission participated in the investigation after it was revealed Martsin had sustained heavy casino debts. In total, the commission reported gambling losses of $10,820 from January through May.
Empty bottles found in Martsin’s apartment during a search this summer led investigators to think he’d stolen almost 200,000 prescription pills.
Martsin was released without bail in July after his arrest on drug-dealing charges. Prosecutors have indicated they will add one count of theft and four counts of money laundering.
He’ll be at capital, broken hip or not
Idaho state Rep. Frank Henderson broke a hip while vacationing in Hawaii this week, but says he’ll be up and going in time for the start of the legislative session on Jan. 6.
“Oh, absolutely – I won’t miss it,” Henderson, R-Post Falls, said from the hospital on the island of Kauai, where he was awaiting surgery on Thursday. “What I’ve got is a minor fracture of my right hip. … The surgeon this morning said about five days after the surgery you’ll be able to walk.”
Henderson, who celebrated his 91st birthday last Friday, said, “I was in a condo I wasn’t familiar with, walking around in the middle of the night. I tripped on a chair leg and fell.” He added, “I should’ve turned the lights on.”
Henderson and his wife, Betty Ann, were vacationing on Kauai for a week and had planned to return Sunday, but now they’ve extended their stay until the middle of next week.
Henderson is a fifth-term state representative and is also a former Kootenai County commissioner and mayor of Post Falls.
Newlywed pleads guilty in park death
MISSOULA – A newlywed bride accused of deliberately pushing her husband to his death in Montana’s Glacier National Park has agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder.
News of the plea agreement for 22-year-old Jordan Graham came as a jury was set to hear closing arguments in her murder trial.
A judge is still deciding whether to accept the deal.
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors would drop charges of first-degree murder and making a false statement. Graham would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
No sentencing date has been scheduled.
Prosecutors had alleged Graham was having second thoughts about her 8-day-old marriage to 25-year-old Cody Johnson when she lured him to a steep cliff in the park on July 7 and intentionally pushed him.