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

Trio found in burned home shot to death

Investigators sift through debris at the Colbert home, May 28, 2015, where a fire destroyed a barn area and part of a home and three bodies were found. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
From staff reports
Spokane County detectives believe the three people who died in a fire near Deer Park on Tuesday were killed by someone who intentionally set the fire to destroy or conceal evidence of the crime. The county Medical Examiner’s office has identified the victims as Spokane fire Lt. Terry Canfield, 59, Lisa M. Canfield, 52, and John Robert Constable, 23. The medical examiner said all three died of gunshot wounds. Spokane Fire Lt. Terry Canfield, a 28-year veteran of the Spokane Fire Department, lived at the home at 20 E. Chattaroy Road with his wife, Lisa. Also staying there was Lisa Canfield’s adult son from a previous marriage, John Constable. Investigators said they believe the perpetrator may have traveled from outside the area and could have dumped or tried to dispose of evidence. They asked people to report suspicious activities or vehicles, or potential evidence such as smoke-damaged clothing. The fire Tuesday consumed roughly two-thirds of the home as well as an outbuilding in the rural area in North Spokane County. At the crime scene Thursday afternoon, forensics workers were sifting through the rubble. The family’s belongings were strewn across the front lawn beside heaps of ash and debris. About a dozen vehicles, including a motorcycle and an Airstream trailer, were parked on the property. “They were a happy family, no enemies,” said Travis Kalekini, a neighbor whose family was close with the victims. Kalekini said he visited Constable at the home about three times a week. His sister, Cherisse Kalekini, 18, said she and her mother had planned to ask Lisa Canfield to help pick out a dress for her graduation from nearby Riverside High School. It would have been “the ultimate girls’ night,” she said. But, “I never got the chance.” The Kalekinis and other neighbors have been taking care of the Canfields’ dogs, Hank and Tucker, since Tuesday. “After the fire, Hank came running over here covered in soot and rain,” Cherisse Kalekini said in front of her house, a quarter mile down the road. “He was scared. He knew something was bad. He was crying, whining.” “I really want to catch the person who did this,” she said. “This is not what should have happened to them – they never deserved this.”