In brief: Police end probe into woman’s death

Spokane police are no longer investigating the death of a woman found in her home last fall.

The Spokane County medical examiner said Emily Simons, 51, died from blunt-force trauma to the head. Her boyfriend, Rick Krupke, found her body Oct. 31.

Spokane police Major Crimes Detective Steve Wohl said a review of Krupke’s cellphone records showed he was at work at the time she died. Information from the medical examiner also indicated her facial and head injuries could have been caused by her falling forward.

According to a search warrant filed last November, Krupke admitted to police he visited Simons on Oct. 28 in violation of a protection order, but denied assaulting her and said he was concerned about her drinking.

The medical examiner has listed Simons’ manner of death as undetermined.

Man reporting intruder ends up being arrested

A man living outside Kingston, Idaho, called Shoshone County deputies Wednesday to report that someone was breaking into his home. Deputies couldn’t locate an intruder when they arrived, but they did find guns and drugs.

There was methamphetamine in plain view and there were guns positioned at every window, according to a news release from Shoshone County Sheriff Mitch Alexander. The man, identified as 26-year-old Justin T. Bartlett, “showed signs of paranoia,” Alexander said.

Bartlett was booked into the Shoshone County Jail on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Alexander said he will revoke a concealed weapons permit that was recently issued to Bartlett.

Nelson will owe $44.8M after release

When Doris Nelson is released from federal prison in 2022 she’ll owe investors in her payday loan scheme close to $44.8 million, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The bulk of that amount is money invested in the Little Loan Shoppe that was never returned. But Nelson must also pay $9,000 in attorney fees to some of her victims, as well as about $1,600 in medical bills for one investor who said she was so shaken by her dealings with Nelson that she must now take medication for the rest of her life.

According to the ruling handed down Thursday, Nelson will be required to pay half her monthly income toward the $44.8 million fine when she is released from prison. She is scheduled for release in September 2022, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Nelson has appealed her nine-year sentence on 110 counts of wire and mail fraud to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She has until next month to file a legal argument to overturn her conviction.