Two Charged In Brutal Murder Pair Accused Of Seeking Vengeance After Victim Failed To Pay Off Debt

Spokane residents Alan G. Rochek and Jacqueline Bence were charged Friday with aggravated first-degree murder in the clumsy and brutal execution of another Spokane resident at Eloika Lake in early April.

Pend Oreille County Prosecutor Tom Metzger said no decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty. The alternative, if Rochek and Bence are convicted as charged, would be life in prison without parole.

The defendants are to appear in Pend Oreille District Court Tuesday for a bail hearing. Arraignment tentatively is planned for June 15.

Bence and Rochek are accused of murdering Richard P. Morley, 30, in the course of what leaders of a methamphetamine crime ring called “taxing.” Authorities say people who “snitched” on the gang, welched on drug debts or committed other offenses were abducted and beaten, sometimes for several days.

Rochek, 28, and Bence, 21, are in the Spokane County Jail, facing charges that they kidnapped and assaulted Morley before they stabbed, slashed and hammered him to death in Pend Oreille County.

Deputy Prosecutor Tony Koures said in a court document that Rochek and Bence confessed the murder to police and others. Spokane police uncovered the crime after a man named Casey Parker complained Rochek and others abducted and beat him because he knew about the killing.

The deputy prosecutor gave this account of the crime, compiled from police reports:

Morley and a man named Tim Taie came to Rochek for backing in a criminal scheme. They promised Rochek a “boom box” stereo and wheels and tires for his Chevrolet Blazer if he would report his checkbook stolen and let them write bad checks on the account, Koures said in the six-page court document.

Morley and Taie welched after writing $7,000 worth of checks. Rochek felt Morley was avoiding him, so Bence lured Morley to Rochek’s house in Spokane on the pretext of a party, according to Koures.

Surrounded by armed gang leaders, Morley claimed he answered to a “boss” - whom he wouldn’t identify - who wouldn’t let him pay Rochek, Koures said.

Bence handcuffed Morley and armed herself with a mallet and a claw hammer. She and Rochek wrapped Morley in a blanket, loaded him into Rochek’s Blazer and began driving with the victim sandwiched between them. Bence beat Morley on the face and stabbed him in the thigh, Koures said.

When Morley screamed, Bence hit him on the head with the hammer to “quiet him down.” She and Rochek then decided to kill Morley at an Eloika Lake site owned by Rochek’s parents, Koures said.

At the lake 20 miles north of Spokane in Pend Oreille County, Rochek knocked Morley unconscious with a hammer, according to the deputy prosecutor. When Morley regained consciousness and started screaming, Rochek gagged him. Bence then tried to strangle Morley with a nylon cord, and Rochek took over when he became dissatisfied with her efforts.

Rochek discovered that he also had failed to kill Morley, so Bence resumed the strangulation. She also cut Morley’s throat, Koures said.

An autopsy indicated Morley died from some combination of strangulation, having his throat cut, being stabbed several times or being clubbed. He apparently suffered at least three hammer blows to his head, including one that penetrated his skull.

, DataTimes