Two Convicted In Beating Death Man Attacked In Mission Park Was Killed For $20 And A Bicycle

Thu., Dec. 10, 1998

By Tom Sowa toms@spokesman.com (509) 459-5492

Two Spokane men were convicted Wednesday of beating a 23-year-old man to death last summer for $20.

Ending a three-day trial, Superior Court Judge Paul Bastine found 22-year-old Curtis Strange and 18-year-old Nathaniel Roberts guilty of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors said Strange and Roberts met Tim Cowen in Mission Park after midnight on Aug. 12.

Roberts struck Cowen in the head with a baseball bat and knocked him down.

Strange later told detectives he stole about $20 from Cowen while Roberts continued bashing the victim with the bat. The men also took Cowen’s bicycle.

He died later that day in a Spokane hospital.

Roberts and Strange waived a jury trial and asked Bastine to hear the case. The judge announced his verdict Wednesday afternoon, shortly after closing arguments.

Strange, a close friend of Cowen, said he was innocent of the murder. He said he met Cowen at the park to collect $20 Strange’s aunt believed Cowen had stolen from her home.

Roberts said he didn’t intend to rob or kill Cowen. He struck Cowen with the bat during a tense moment in the confrontation, defense attorney Doug Boe said in his opening statement.

Neither defendant testified during the trial.

Bastine said he based his ruling on statements made by the two to detectives after their arrest.

In a key admission, Strange told a police detective he grabbed Cowen’s fanny pack and wallet while Roberts “made sure Tim didn’t move” by hitting him with the bat.

Roberts has several juvenile convictions in Spokane County and faces 24-1/2 years to 32 years in prison.

Strange has no criminal record and faces a term of 22 to 28 years.

Both sentences will carry an extra two years for the use of a deadly weapon. Sentencing is scheduled for sometime in January.

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