Police gathering evidence in deaths

Investigators continue to gather evidence to support what they believe is a double homicide-suicide in Pullman, but they have not officially ruled on a motive for the killings.

Pullman Police Commander Chris Tennant said Coroner Pete Martin was trying to schedule the autopsies on 27-year-old Louissa A. Thompson of Pullman; 25-year-old Peter A. Zornes of Oakesdale, and 29-year-old Trevor S. Saunders of Moscow.

Saunders was convicted of rape in 1996 and was a registered sex offender in Idaho, according to the Idaho State Police Web site.

Thompson and Zornes, a Washington State University graduate, both worked at a local Shopko, Tennant said. Zornes’ father was looking for his son and called both the store and the Pullman Police Department looking for him.

Officers responded to the welfare check and discovered the three bodies Saturday night at the Statesman Condominiums, 1220 NE State St., Tennant said.

“The families are providing information about the relationships between the players … about why these people were together at that time and why one was upset enough to do this,” Tennant said. “Until we get the forensic evidence to back up our theory, it would be irresponsible for us to comment.”

Man pleads guilty in embezzlement case

A Colbert grant writer who stole $26,000 from a nonprofit legal-aid organization has pleaded guilty and been ordered to repay the money.

Samuel G. Mahaffy, 53, had been charged with first-degree theft and money laundering for embezzling a $26,000 donation to the Spokane-based Center for Justice in the summer of 2002.

He pleaded guilty last week to third-degree theft, entering an Alford plea. In essence, he said he did nothing wrong but admitted a jury might convict him. State law treats an Alford plea as equivalent to a guilty plea.

Mahaffy told Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins he has advanced cancer and wanted to avoid the stress of a trial.

As called for in Mahaffy’s plea bargain, Tompkins sentenced him to a year in jail. He won’t have to serve the sentence if he repays the money he stole and stays out of trouble for two years.

The money Mahaffy embezzled was donated by Center for Justice founder Jim Sheehan in order to get another $26,000 grant. The center got the grant but had to raise the matching money a second time.

The Center for Justice provides legal assistance to the poor, and it works on civil rights and environmental issues.

Hewitt named head of state Senate GOP

Olympia Sen. Mike Hewitt of Walla Walla was elected Monday as the new state Senate Republican leader.

Hewitt succeeds Sen. Bill Finkbeiner of Kirkland, who announced last month that he was stepping down as minority leader to spend more time with his family and on graduate studies at the University of Washington.

“It’s nice to let someone else take the reins for a while, especially when you know they’re going to do a great job,” Finkbeiner said.

Hewitt, who had previously served as Republican whip, beat out two other colleagues, Sens. Linda Evans Parlette of Wenatchee and Joyce Mulliken of Ephrata. The vote tally of the secret ballot was not disclosed.

“I’m pleased, and I’m humbled,” Hewitt said. “It’s a real honor.”

Hewitt was first elected to the Senate in 2000 and re-elected in 2004. The owner of a small business for 23 years, he has long been an advocate for small business issues and is the former executive director of the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce and former chairman of the Walla Walla Planning Commission.

Pro boxer reports stabbing in Idaho

A 21-year-old professional boxer was reportedly stabbed outside The Grail early Sunday morning.

Shawn Phillip Hawk told authorities he went to the popular nightspot in Huetter with his girlfriend and a friend. He said he was walking to his car around closing time when he was approached by six to eight men, according to a report from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department.

Hawk told authorities that the men spoke to him in Spanish. Hawk said he explained he did not speak Spanish and turned to walk back into the bar. He said he saw three to five other men come toward him.

According to the report, one of the men bumped into Hawk and he felt a pinch on the back of his leg, above his knee. He said he then felt blood running down his leg and realized he had been stabbed.

Hawk, a boxer under contract with The Coeur d’Alene Casino, said he wasn’t interested in pressing charges in the stabbing.

Possible connection in deaths investigated

Covington, Wash. A 34-year-old man who died Monday in a fatal traffic accident that blocked traffic for hours on state Highway 18 shared a home with a woman found dead in a residence in this southeast King County community, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Authorities weren’t sure which death came first and how — or whether — they might be connected.

The victims were not immediately identified. Nearly four hours after the man’s Subaru station wagon crossed the center line of Highway 18 and collided with a tractor-trailer rig and another vehicle, officers were called to the man’s home on a report of a possible suicide.

They found the 33-year-old woman, who had died “a violent death,” sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said. Two children in the home were not injured.

The woman suffered stab wounds, television stations reported.

Her body reportedly was found by a relative around 9:15 a.m. Monday.

The crash that killed the man happened shortly after 5 a.m. just east of the interchange with the Issaquah-Hobart Road. Highway 18 traffic was stopped for more than four hours as the State Patrol investigated.

The Subaru was heading east when it crossed the center line and hit a big rig traveling west, Trooper Kelly Spangler said. A pickup then drove into smoke from the crash and collided with the Subaru, she said.

No one else was seriously injured.

Idling car likely caused poisoning deaths

Cashmere, Wash. An elderly couple found dead in their home died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the Chelan County corner said.

Roy Maves, 93, and his wife, Marie, 94, were found in their beds Wednesday. Autopsies found they had a carbon monoxide blood saturation percentage nearly double the lethal level, Chelan County Coroner Gina Fino said.

Chelan County sheriff’s officers believe the couple’s Buick Riviera was the source of the gas. Investigators found the vehicle, with a normal exhaust system, idling in the couple’s enclosed garage. They believe the car could have been running for more than 12 hours, but they are still investigating.

Family members also told investigators that Roy Maves may have had signs of dementia and that Marie Maves was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Detective Mitch Matheson said.

Project to restore 225 acres of wetlands

Olympia A new wetland restoration project, encompassing 225 acres along the Snoqualmie River in Snohomish County, will be the state’s first “wetland bank” approved by local, state and federal agencies.

The pilot project will allow a private owner to manage the wetland and sell “credits” to developers whose projects require wetland mitigation, the state Ecology Department said.

“The ‘bank’ offers developers restored or replaced wetlands that are already established and will be cared for far into the future,” said Lauren Driscoll, who coordinates Ecology’s wetland banking efforts.

The landowner, Habitat Bank LLC, purchased the former farm, which lost its wetland character when its old owners drained it decades ago. Habitat LLC, in cooperation with Ecology, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies, restored the wetland character to benefit fish and wildlife, water quality and natural flood control, Ecology said in a statement.

Similar projects are under development in several areas around the state.