Thomas Clouse

The lengthy trial of a convicted robber has begun this week after DNA linked the registered sex offender with a fake beard used during the killing of a Spokane Valley business owner in 1992.

On its face, moving inmates from the Spokane County jail system to a jail in Kennewick solves big problems. In the short term, local governments would save hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time when they’re continuing to deal with difficult budget decisions.

Spokane County prosecutors will pursue a second trial against a Southern California man charged with first-degree murder by accomplice, setting up what could be the fourth major trial surrounding the 2007 slaying of Dale R. Stark. A jury Monday deadlocked after failing to reach a unanimous decision in the case against Brian L. Moore, 46, who also faced a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Appellate judges ordered a new trial today for Spokane man convicted in 2009 of being a sexually violent predator because the note he wrote, detailing his desire to rape, kidnap and dismember a woman, was never communicated to anyone and thus did not meet the required legal definition of a threat.

Spokane County proseuctors have decided to pursue a second trial against a Southern California man charged with first-degree murder by accomplice, setting up what could be the fourth major trial following the 2007 slaying of Dale Stark.

A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the case of a Southern California man charged with first-degree murder by accomplice in the 2007 shooting death of his girlfriend’s husband. The jury deliberated for parts of four days before informing Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt that they could not come to a unanimous decision against Brian L. Moore, 46, who was the boyfriend of former prostitute Shellye Stark.

A life of crime likely ended Friday as a Spokane judge sentenced a man to 17 years in prison for the brutal beating, rape and slaying of a woman on Christmas Eve 1986 that got solved only through advances in technology. Gary L. Trimble, 63, offered the family of Dorothy E. Burdette no explanation as to why he attacked the 62-year-old woman, rolled her in a blanket and left her to the December elements under the Interstate 90 overpass near High Bridge Park.

The family of Otto Zehm will get the apology they sought for more than six years as Spokane city officials agreed Tuesday to settle a civil lawsuit against nine police officers for $1.67 million. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan, of Oregon, who directed the mediation along with Sandpoint attorney Ford Elsaesser, said Tuesday he will ensure that both sides get what they were promised as specific terms are ironed out in weeks to come.