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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Breean Beggs to run for county prosecutor

A vocal critic of Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker said Wednesday that he will run for county prosecutor next year.

Breean Beggs, a Spokane civil rights attorney, is running as a Democrat. He is the former executive director of Spokane’s Center for Justice and was one of two attorneys who represented the family of Otto Zehm in their lawsuit against the city of Spokane. Zehm died as a result of a police confrontation in 2006, and Beggs has been critical of Tucker’s approach to investigating fatal confrontations involving law enforcement officers.

Tucker, a Republican, has not said if he will run for a fifth term.

Two Republicans have filed notice of their intent with the Public Disclosure Commission to also run for Tucker’s seat, but one of them, Spokane Deputy Prosecutor Patrick T. Johnson Jr., told the Inlander newspaper recently that he has decided not to run.

The other candidate, Spokane Deputy Prosecutor Larry Haskell, is a former Airway Heights city councilman.

Jonathan Brunt

Mall arcade molester receives life sentence

A man convicted of molesting a 5-year-old girl at a NorthTown Mall arcade was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday.

Richard Payne, 56, will be imprisoned for life without eligibility for parole under Washington’s “persistent offender” law, which mandates a life sentence for sex offenders.

In October, Payne was found guilty of two charges of child molestation and one charge of exposing himself to a minor. He was previously convicted of child molestation at a Spokane store in 2001. Payne also has a record of several acts of indecency with minors dating back to the 1980s.

Payne’s attorney, David Hearrean, plans to appeal the verdict.

Staff report

Remains identified as missing woman’s

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Wednesday that the human remains found in Elk, Wash., last week belong to Ramona Childress.

Childress, 27, went missing a year ago. Her boyfriend, Jason Flett, is charged with killing her in fear that she would report several home invasion robberies he was allegedly involved in.

Investigators originally turned up the remains on the rural Elk property on Nov. 14.

Kaitlin Gillespie