Jury Hung On Charge Of Murder Man Convicted Of Conspiracy; No Verdict On Push Off Cliff

A Pasco man was convicted Thursday on two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for scheming to kill two men for insurance money. But the jury deadlocked on whether he pushed his brother-in-law off a cliff 13 years ago.

Dale Norwick, 42, was charged with first-degree murder in the 1982 death of his sister’s husband, William Jewell, and with conspiracy to commit murder in plots against two other men in 1991 and 1993. Neither of those men was harmed.

The Benton County Superior Court jury deliberated for three days before convicting Norwick on the two conspiracy counts along with one count of first-degree theft and one count of second-degree possession of stolen property. But the jury could not reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge.

Prosecutor Andy Miller said he would decide within two weeks whether to refile the murder charge. Still, he was pleased with the verdict.

“To have at least some of the jurors hang tough on the murder count, I have never been happier or felt better about our jury system and the way it works,” Miller said.

A sentencing date has not been set.

Norwick was accused of selling Jewell more than $400,000 in life insurance and then killing him to collect on the death benefits.

Norwick and his sister, Jeri Jewell, split the insurance money after Jewell, 32, fell to his death from Chandler Ridge near Benton City in 1982. Prosecutors contend that Norwick sneaked up on Jewell when he stopped to take some photographs and pushed him off the cliff.

The state’s star witness, Kathe Lee, testified that nearly 10 years after Jewell’s death, she and Norwick plotted a similar fate for two other men - Todd Roberts and Kenneth Harris.

Lee, who was granted immunity from prosecution for her cooperation, said she went along with Norwick because she had fallen in love with him.

In 1991, Norwick introduced Lee to Roberts. Within a couple of months, Roberts had moved into Lee’s house and they were buying a truck together. But when Roberts refused to buy life insurance, Lee kicked him out of her house.

In August 1992, Norwick introduced Lee to Harris. They married in April 1993 in Coeur d’Alene. When the couple went to buy life insurance, an agent recommended a $150,000 policy for Harris, a restaurant bus boy. But in October 1993, the couple applied for a $1.5 million policy.