2 Charged In Stabbing Of Prostitute Two Men Connected To Elk-Area Shooting Accused Of Killing Woman Near Playfair

Fri., May 5, 1995

By Bonnie Harris bonnieh@spokesman.com

Murder charges were filed Thursday against two men in the stabbing death of a Spokane prostitute last winter.

Jason Kukrall, 21, and Tobias Stackhouse, 18, both of Elk, Wash., are accused of killing a 21-year-old woman near Playfair Race Track on Dec. 1.

Linda Guillen of Portland died after she was beaten and stabbed, police said.

Kukrall became a suspect in the murder because his fingerprints were found on a beer bottle at the scene. When Spokane detectives interviewed him several weeks later and persuaded him to take a lie detector test, he missed two appointments.

The break in the case came a month later, when Kukrall and Stackhouse were arrested for killing an Elk-area homeowner who interrupted them while they burglarized his house.

Steve Roscoe, 43, was shot through the heart in his back yard as the pair tried to leave.

Almost immediately after his arrest, Stackhouse admitted to the killing and also told police he and Kukrall murdered Guillen.

Court records show Stackhouse said he and Kukrall invited the woman into Kukrall’s car on East Sprague, planning to rob and kill her. Stackhouse said he hit her in the face as she got out of the car.

The blow knocked Guillen back into the car, where Stackhouse said Kukrall hit her on the head with a beer bottle. When she tried to get out of the car again, the men kicked her back down, Stackhouse told police.

Kukrall then tossed Stackhouse a knife and told him to kill the woman, records state. Kukrall later admitted some involvement in Guillen’s death. He was sentenced last month to 26 years in prison.

Stackhouse hasn’t pleaded guilty to the Roscoe killing, possibly so he can preserve his right to appeal the Pend Oreille County judge’s decision to handle the case in adult court.

Stackhouse maintains he should have been tried in juvenile court because he didn’t turn 18 until two months after the murder. His attorney already has laid the groundwork for an insanity defense.

Both suspects will be transferred to the Spokane County Jail from Pend Oreille County to face charges in the Guillen case, officials said.

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