Man Accused Of Providing Murder Gun Arrasmith’s Alleged Accomplice May Have Supplied Him With Weapon

A man arrested as an accomplice in the slayings of a Clarkston, Wash., couple provided the gun, prosecutors alleged Friday.

The accusation was contained in court documents filed in support of a charge against Kyle A. Richardson, who made an initial appearance in 2nd District Court.

Judge Carl Kerrick ordered Richardson held without bond in the Nez Perce County Jail pending a Nov. 1 preliminary hearing.

Richardson, 25, of Lewiston, was arrested Thursday. He is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the slayings of Ronald and Luella Bingham. He was also held on an unrelated charge of methamphetamine possession.

Sheriff Ron Koeper has said Richardson’s case will not affect the charges against Kenneth D. Arrasmith, who awaits a Nov. 6 trial on two counts of first-degree murder.

The Binghams - Luella, 42, and Ronald, 46 - were gunned down in their ramshackle auto shop on Lewiston’s east side on May 17.

Prosecutors allege Ronald Bingham was shot 23 times with a semiautomatic pistol, while his wife was shot six times in the back as she tried to run away.

Shortly after the shootings, Arrasmith surrendered to police in Clarkston, just across the Snake River from Lewiston.

Court documents allege that Richardson conspired with Arrasmith in the slayings and provided Arrasmith a Tec-9 semiautomatic handgun.

In addition, Richardson “attempted to purchase a magazine for a Tec-9 semiautomatic handgun for a friend and himself so he could take care of some people because one clip was not enough,” the documents said.

Also, Richardson “offered one man $2,500 to commit murder on a couple of people,” and tried to take part in surveillance of the Binghams’ house before the slayings, the document said.

The documents did not provide further details. Prosecutors did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Friday.

Under state law, Richardson could face the death penalty if convicted on the murder conspiracy charge. Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty.

Arrasmith, 44, does not admit to shooting the Binghams and has pleaded innocent. Prosecutors contend the Sunnyside, Wash., truck driver and former Asotin County, Wash., sheriff’s deputy killed the Binghams because he believed his own 15-year-old daughter had been sexually abused by the couple.

The case has attracted national attention, and Arrasmith has won the support of many local residents.

Since his arrest, 17 women have come forward with stories of sex- and drug-abuse involving the Binghams, say Roy and Craig Mosman, Arrasmith’s Moscow-based attorneys.

Arrasmith, in a telephone interview Thursday night from the county jail, said he knew Richardson but could not imagine what he could contribute to the prosecution’s case.

“They’re harassing someone who has nothing to do with this,” Arrasmith said. “If they get anything they are going to use from him, it will be false and will only be because he’s scared to death.”