Police Release Photo Of Wrong Man

Spokane resident Jim Douglas was startled to see a photograph of himself in Tuesday’s Spokesman-Review, identified as murder suspect Ray A. Ellis.

Douglas said his landlord and others recognized him in the photo and called to ask about his “double life.” But it was a case of mistaken identity.

The Stevens County Sheriff’s Department released a photograph found at the murder scene, showing a man officers thought was the 46-year-old Ellis.

Douglas said it was a photo of him, apparently taken eight to 10 years ago when he knew one of the suspects, Valerie Greenfield, who is now 33.

Douglas said he has since ended his association with Greenfield, also known as Valerie Vincent.

“I hope it hasn’t caused him too much difficulty,” Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer said Tuesday.

Ellis, who bears some resemblance to Douglas, was arrested Tuesday in Spokane and his correct photograph appears with this story. He is being held on a charge of rendering criminal assistance.

Ellis is one of four suspects in the late October disappearance and suspected murder of Chewelah-area resident Tina Smith, 29, at a house in the Onion Creek area north of Colville.

Other suspects in Smith’s death are John H. Steinkraus, 42, and Randall C. Gardner, 37.

Steinkraus, Gardner and Greenfield remained at large Tuesday, and Smith’s body still hadn’t been found.

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