Six men indicted in alleged Doug Carlile murder-for-hire scheme

Six men have been indicted on murder-for-hire charges in the slaying of South Hill businessman Doug Carlile in December. The grand jury charges were unsealed by court order Wednesday. James Henrikson is already in custody in North Dakota facing weapons charges. Other named defendants in the alleged murder for hire scheme are Timothy Suckow, the alleged triggerman, Todd D. Bates, Robert A. Delao, Lazaro T. Pesina, and Robby J. Wahrer. Suckow and Wahrer had been previously jailed in Spokane County and face murder charges for their role in Carlile’s death. Carlile, 63, was found dead of gunshot wounds in his home at 2505 S. Garfield Road on Dec. 15. His wife said the couple returned home late that night from church and found a gunman in their kitchen. She fled upstairs as Carlile pleaded with the man not to shoot, she told police. Investigators immediately turned their attention to Henrikson, a business partner who the family said had threatened Carlile’s life over money invested in oil drilling operations on the Bakken shale. Police called Henrikson just hours after the shooting, and he denied involvement, though he did tell investigators that Carlile owed him roughly $2 million. Henrikson was arrested in January after federal authorities searched his home in Watford City, N.D., and found weapons. Henrikson has multiple felony convictions in Oregon, according to court records. Suckow was also arrested in January by Spokane police after he was tied to a white van seen leaving Carlile’s residence the night of the murder. A glove left at the scene also matched Suckow’s DNA, according to court documents. Delao approached police two days after the shooting and offered information about Henrikson and Carlile’s business associations with Tex Hall, chairman of an Indian tribe that owned the land the pair sought mineral rights to drill on. During that interview, Delao denied involvement in Carlile’s murder, according to court documents. The indictments allege Henrikson also ordered hits on Kristopher “K.C.” Clarke, an employee of Henrikson’s trucking company who went missing in February 2012, as well as Jay Wright, Jed McClure, and Tim Scott, according to court documents. The indictments also allege Henrikson, Delao and Bates conspired to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin in Washington and elsewhere. Details of the investigation contained in a criminal complaint remain under seal. Pesina was arrested earlier this month in Walla Walla, according to court documents. He is currently in custody of the Spokane County Jail.