Murderer Charges Cover-Up In Suit Former Sheriff, Others Silent About Guns At Murder Scene

Convicted double murderer Kenneth D. Arrasmith has filed a $1.2 million lawsuit over the silence of a former sheriff and two of his men about guns found at the crime scene.

Arrasmith filed the complaint against former Nez Perce County Sheriff Ron Koeper, former Capt.

Scott Whitcomb and Sgt. Jim Colvin, as well as Cliff Whitcomb, the son of the captain, and a dozen other unnamed defendants.

The 2nd District Court lawsuit seeks a jury trial on whether the men violated Arrasmith’s constitutional right to due process of law by covering up information about two guns taken from the shop where he killed Ronald and Luella Bingham on May 17, 1995.

A handgun belonging to Cliff Whitcomb was removed moments after law enforcement descended on the shop. A second gun was found in a car outside the shop and was removed by Cliff Whitcomb the day after the killings. Neither was included in police reports or offered as evidence at the trial.

Arrasmith testified that he went to the shop to secretly tape record the Binghams’ confession that they had been sexually abusing his 15-year-old daughter. He said he saw Ronald Bingham reaching for something, possibly a gun, as he approached carrying two weapons. Bingham was shot 23 times as he worked under a pickup truck.

Arrasmith also testified he saw a gun in Luella Bingham hand before he shot her six times in the back.

Prosecutors challenged Arrasmith’s claim of self-defense during the trial, arguing that no weapons were found at the scene. He was found guilty of first- and second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

But his lawsuit said Koeper, Whitcomb and Colvin violated Arrasmith’s “opportunity for a fair trial when they each stood by and allowed perjured testimony into evidence that the crime scene was thoroughly searched and no guns were found.”