Stories by Thomas Clouse for the Spokesman-Review

News > Crime/Public Safety

Suicide ruled in death of man whose remains were found near Brooks Road in May

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 26, 2017

The gunshot to the head that killed a man, whose bones were discovered his past May near Brooks Road in West Spokane County, apparently was self inflicted.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Drugs worth more than $1 million seized in Grant County this month

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 26, 2017

The landscape of Grant County paints a hard place. It’s underworld has been laboring even harder.

News > Spokane

Attorneys in death penalty case say Renfro suffers ‘neuro deficit’ that played part in killing Coeur d’Alene police officer

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 23, 2017

Defense attorneys are calling on experts to convince a jury that the man convicted of killing a Coeur d’Alene police officer should not receive the death penalty.

News > Spokane

Computer file stolen in Oklahoma could put Spokane veterans at risk for identity theft

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 19, 2017

The staff at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center is working to determine the scope of what could be the potential release of records for 1,915 veterans, who could now become victims of identity theft.

News > Spokane

Longtime Spokane attorney Terry Lackie loses battle with cancer

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 18, 2017

Longtime Spokane attorney and law firm partner, Hugh “Terry” Lackie, has made his last argument. He was 71.

News > Spokane

Jury now decides how convicted cop killer Renfro spends rest of his life

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 17, 2017

The options are now down to two for convicted cop killer Jonathan D. Renfro and neither will allow him to leave prison alive.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Jury convicts Jonathan Renfro of murdering Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 13, 2017

After deliberating for about four hours on Thursday, the jury arrived at the Kootenai County Courthouse on Friday ready to announce its decision. It found Jonathan D. Renfro, 29, guilty of first-degree murder for shooting Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore in the face on May 5, 2015. It also found him guilty of robbery, concealing evidence and removing a gun from a police officer.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Jury deliberations ongoing in cop-killing trial of Jonathan Renfro

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 12, 2017

David Robins took a swig from his Nalgene water bottle Thursday, collected himself and turned toward the jury. He then described in great detail how he believes Jonathan D. Renfro “ambushed” Sgt. Greg Moore and shot him in the face.

News > Spokane

Attorneys rest cases in guilt phase of murder trial against accused cop killer Jonathan Renfro

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 11, 2017

The last piece of evidence the jury viewed Wednesday was a frame-by-frame slide presentation showing the last things Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore saw before a bullet struck him in his mouth during his encounter with suspected shooter Jonathan D. Renfro.

News > Spokane

Coeur d’Alene officer grabbed for Jonathan Renfro just as fatal shot was fired, according to murder trial testimony

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 10, 2017

Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore reached out, and according to expert defense witnesses, grabbed either the wrist or lower arm of Jonathan D. Renfro just as the 29-year-old felon pulled the trigger of the stolen pistol hidden in his jacket pocket.

News > Spokane

Federal judge sides with bus drivers’ union over ad dispute on STA buses

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 9, 2017

A federal judge has ruled that Spokane Transit Authority violated the First Amendment when it refused to allow the union to advertise on placards placed on the STA buses.

News > Spokane

Wife of business head agrees to pay $235,000 after exposed as shell company at Hanford

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 9, 2017

The wife of a vice president of a company that already paid a $2 million settlement has agreed to pay $235,000 after a whistle blower showed she headed the shell company developed to siphon money off government contracts funneled to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

News > Spokane

Washington Supreme Court reverses Spokane County judges on pretrial release conditions

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 5, 2017

The Washington Supreme Court ruled Friday against a Spokane County judge in a split decision that may limit the conditions that judges can impose on persons arrested for non-violent crimes before they get to trial.

News > Spokane

Federal judge says Magic Johnson not required to testify in fraud case in Spokane

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 6, 2017

After an assist by his attorney, Earvin “Magic” Johnson will not be called to testify as a witness in an upcoming federal criminal trial in Spokane.

News > Spokane

Hauser Lake woman relives the mad rush to survive Las Vegas shooting

Wed., Oct. 4, 2017

Crystal Hanson of Hauser Lake doesn’t want to sleep. Sleep brings dreams. She’d rather stay awake than risk reliving images of scrambling around with the survivors of the deadliest mass shooting in the nation’s history.

News > Spokane

Sheriff’s Office recommends three domestic violence charges against Spokane police officer

Tue., Oct. 3, 2017

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is recommending that prosecutors not only re-file a charge of domestic violence assault against a Spokane Police Officer, but a detective believes the officer should face two additional charges, including unlawful imprisonment.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Sheriff’s Office recommends three domestic violence charges against Spokane police officer

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 3, 2017

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is recommending that prosecutors to refile a charge of domestic violence assault against a Spokane police officer in a case that was dismissed in July.

News > Spokane

Renfro friends testify about helping him avoid arrest after shooting of Sgt. Greg Moore

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 2, 2017

In the frantic moments after Coeur d’Alene Sgt. Greg Moore was shot in 2015, several friends of Jonathan D. Renfro testified Monday about how they sent him text messages to help him avoid the cascade of law enforcement that converged on a parking lot near Stateline, Idaho.

News > Spokane

Post Falls woman experiences Las Vegas shooting by phone as her mother and uncles took cover

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 2, 2017

Shaleen Hanson’s mom called at 10:10 p.m. Sunday. She was screaming. The 27-year-old daughter could hear what sounded like gunshots and chaos in the background.

News > Spokane

Prosecutors: Shot that killed Coeur d’Alene officer was fired through a jacket pocket

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 29, 2017

In a short day of testimony Friday, Kootenai County prosecutors showed the jury how they believe Jonathan D. Renfro fired the shot that killed Coeur d’Alene police Sgt. Greg Moore on May 5, 2015. The bullet was fired from a gun concealed in the shooter’s jacket pocket.

News > Spokane

Jurors get gruesome glimpse of crime scene at trial of accused cop killer Jonathan Renfro

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 28, 2017

Several jurors leaned forward with stern looks and put their hands over their mouths Thursday as prosecutors trucked out gruesome photographs showing what a bullet fired only inches away can do to the human face.

News > Spokane

New rule for foreign players could hinder championship run for Post Falls school

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 27, 2017

Foreign players, who fueled the first state boys basketball championship last year for Post Falls’ tiny Genesis Prep, will face new restrictions on when they can play.

News > Spokane

Accused Freeman school shooter told detectives that everything went ‘exactly as intended’

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 27, 2017

The day before Freeman High School endured a shooting tragedy, the accused shooter flipped a coin into the air. Heads meant shoot students.

News > Spokane

Spokane man gets 25 years in federal prison for drug, gun convictions

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 26, 2017

A Spokane felon was sentenced Tuesday to a quarter century in federal prison after he was convicted of a drug charge and illegal possession of a firearm.

News > Spokane

Detectives in Renfro murder trial describe finding gun stolen from slain officer

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 26, 2017

Just under three hours after someone shot Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore in the face and stole his gun in 2015, investigators found his stolen patrol car near Stateline, Idaho. Nearby, under a semitrailer, they sent in a police dog to apprehend the man who now faces the death penalty.

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