Kidnapping, Robbery Probe Could Widen Ferry County Undersheriff: ‘Possible Conspiracy’

Police say right-wing extremist Faron Lovelace, who wants to be executed for murdering a man in North Idaho, may also have been involved in a conspiracy to commit murder in Ferry County.

Lovelace, 39, is suspected of kidnapping and robbing Ferry County resident Dick Morton last year, in addition to Colville business owners Malcolm and Jill Friedman. Ferry County Undersheriff Mike George said the Morton investigation “may expand into a possible conspiracy to commit homicide.”

George declined to say why Lovelace may have wanted to kill the 66-year-old Morton or a member of his family. He said he doesn’t know how many people may have conspired with Lovelace.

“Right now, it’s a robbery, kidnapping and a burglary,” George said.

The incident is remarkably similar to the June 12, 1995, burglary, robbery and kidnapping of the Friedmans - in which the Stevens County Sheriff’s Department is seeking charges against Lovelace.

Both the Ferry County and Stevens County cases are based on statements Lovelace made to police and other evidence. Authorities are in no hurry to file charges because Lovelace is in an Idaho jail on a capital murder charge and a federal fugitive warrant.

Lovelace led police to a shallow grave near Priest Lake, Idaho, after he was captured near the squatter’s camp where he was living at the lake. He told officers he wants to be executed rather than returned to prison, where he spent 17 years.

Bonner County Sheriff Chip Roos said Lovelace is believed to have shot a racist friend after the two had a falling out. Police say Lovelace acknowledges being a “racist” himself.

Lovelace admitted shooting Jeremy C. Scott, 24, once in the back of the head in Bonner County in July 1995 - just a few weeks after kidnapping and robbing the Friedmans.

Morton thinks Lovelace, calling himself “John,” cased the Mortons’ rural house in July under the pretext of trying to buy dog tags for a paramilitary group. Morton is a wholesale distributor of costume jewelry.

“John” left empty-handed, but returned about two months later, Morton said. He said his adult son, Richard L. Morton, found the man hiding in the family barn on Sept. 20.

The masked suspect had an assault rifle and was dressed in military-style camouflage clothing. Morton said the man removed the mask because it upset Richard Morton.

The elder Morton said his wife, Wilma, went to the barn with a cold drink for their son and the gunman herded them both into the house. Morton also was taken captive when he returned home later that day.

He said he talked to the gunman through the night. Among other things, the intruder said he committed the Friedman crime. Recalling what her captor said, Wilma Morton was able to recite previously undisclosed details of the Friedman case.

Dick Morton said he agreed to turn over his gun collection and drive the man to Spokane the next morning. Morton said they stopped in Deer Park to eat at Zip’s, and he was forced to withdraw $480 from a bank machine and give it to the robber.

Morton said he had established a rapport with the robber by the time they arrived at Swackhammer’s restaurant on North Division in Spokane - not far from the Country Cousin Barbecue where the Friedmans’ kidnapper released them. With a pistol still in his pocket, “John” told Morton to wait at Swackhammer’s for him to return after disposing of the gun collection.

Morton said he went to a nearby business to call the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department and watch in the unlikely event the kidnapper returned.

“I’m waiting there 15 minutes and the police don’t show up, and damned if he doesn’t show up and go walking back into Swackhammer’s,” Morton said. “He walked into Swackhammer’s, and I’ve never seen him since.”

Morton’s car was left at the restaurant.

When sheriff’s deputies arrived, Morton said they made him empty his pockets “like I’m crazy or something. They didn’t believe a thing I said.”

Spokane officers were openly skeptical of the Friedmans’ story as well, unaware of their solid reputation in Colville.

The Friedmans said the man who kidnapped them spouted “militia gibberish” and told them they were targeted because of their Jewish name. He apparently didn’t know they were Episcopalian.

The camouflage-clad masked bandit forced the Friedmans at gunpoint to give him almost $16,000 and drive him to the Country Cousin Barbecue restaurant in north Spokane. Their vehicle was abandoned nearby.

Dick Morton believes his efforts to help solve the Friedman case caused Lovelace to target him. Morton said his first visit by Lovelace, or “John,” was just a few days after he suggested a possible suspect in the Friedman case to the Stevens County Sheriff’s Department on July 12, 1995.

While robbing the Mortons two months later, “John” claimed to be operating at the direction of a “Colville policeman informant,” Morton said.

Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer and Colville Police Chief Damond Meshishnek said they are confident no one in their departments helped Lovelace.

Lovelace told federal agents he targeted the Morton family for a reason other than revenge - for Morton passing information on to police, according to Ferry County undersheriff George.

He declined to elaborate, but said, “there is nothing there now to even suggest it was retaliation.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo