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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Man trapped by tree shoots himself, dies

Associated Press

CAMANO ISLAND, Wash. – A Camano Island man injured when a windblown tree crushed his trailer killed himself on Christmas Day as he lay trapped in the wreckage, authorities said Monday.

The tree apparently blew down early Sunday on the fifth-wheel trailer where 52-year-old Richard Payne had been living, Island County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Smith said in a statement.

Coroner Robert Bishop said the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He said the injuries Payne suffered from the tree crashing down were not life-threatening.

It did not appear that Payne had any means of summoning help, Smith’s statement said. There was no phone in the trailer and no nearby neighbors. A visitor found the body Sunday afternoon.

No suicide note was found, Bishop said.

Payne was on disability and had been living in the trailer on family property for about a year, the coroner said.