Charges Against Beating-Death Suspect Weighed Prosecutor Argues For High Bail As The Accused Has Lengthy Rap Sheet

A Spokane man suspected of beating his stepfather to death at a drunken family gathering in Chewelah is to be charged with second-degree felony murder or firstdegree manslaughter.

Deputy Prosecutor David Bruneau made that announcement Monday when defendant Roy B. Marchand appeared in Stevens County Superior Court for a bail hearing.

Judge Larry Kristianson set bail at $100,000 and scheduled Marchand’s arraignment for Nov. 15. Marchand remained in the county jail evening.

Bruneau told the court that an autopsy revealed that Marchand’s stepfather, Edward L. Wharton, 54, died of blows to the head that fractured his skull in two places and damaged his brain. Wharton also suffered “multiple” contusions and fractures on his face, Bruneau said.

He said one of the head injuries may have happened when Wharton was knocked down onto the concrete entrance of his home. There was no indication a weapon was used, Bruneau said. There were six to 12 people at the house early Sunday morning when Marchand and Wharton got into an argument and went outside, Bruneau said. He said both men, like the other adults at the house, were “highly intoxicated … almost stuporously intoxicated.”

The reason for the fight is still unclear, but Bruneau said Marchand told police that Wharton threw the first punch. Marchand told investigators he evaded the blow and struck Wharton once in the face.

Family members took Wharton inside and called for help while Marchand returned to Spokane. Wharton later died at St. Joseph Hospital in Chewelah, and Marchand was arrested in Spokane after leading police on a high-speed chase.

Police broke off the chase when speeds became excessive, but soon found Marchand at a house near where his van was abandoned.

Marchand said little in court, but his court-appointed attorney, Patty St. Clair, said he may plead self-defense or cite his intoxication as a mitigating factor. St. Clair said Marchand “just got on his feet” by landing a job at Travis Pattern & Foundry in Spokane.

Bruneau said he hadn’t decided whether to charge Marchand with first-degree manslaughter or second-degree murder on grounds that Wharton died in the course of a second-degree assault. Under Washington law, a person who commits a felony is guilty of murder if a victim of some lesser felony dies because of the crime.

If convicted of second-degree felony murder, Marchand faces a standard sentence of 13-3/4 to 22 years in prison. A conviction of first-degree manslaughter could get him 9-1/4 to 12-1/4 years.

Bruneau argued for a high bail because Marchand has a long and violent criminal history. Marchand has three felony convictions in Spokane County in 1998 - for first-degree robbery, third-degree assault and possession of methamphetamine.

In addition, he has a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault conviction in Okanogan County and an extensive Spokane County juvenile record, dating from 1988, that includes third-degree theft, car theft, second-degree burglary and second-degree escape.

Also, Bruneau noted in court, Marchand is reported to have a tattoo on his chest that says, “Born to kill.”