Valley man enters plea in wife’s death

A Spokane Valley man cried as he pleaded not guilty Tuesday to killing his pregnant wife before fleeing to Tacoma.

Anselmo Braffith III, 24, appeared before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno. She ordered him to remain in jail in lieu of a $1 million bond and set his trial date for March 27.

According to court records, Braffith said he drove to Tacoma on Dec. 31 with his four children after finding his wife – 25-year-old Jamie Braffith – dead in their basement in the 4400 block of North Adams Road.

According to court documents, Braffith confronted his wife about an affair on Dec. 30. He later went to a bar and repeatedly talked about killing her, according to court records.

Braffith told police that when he returned home, he argued with his wife. Braffith told investigators he remembered hitting his wife once, then blacked out, according to the court records.

Jamie Braffith died from a blow to the back of her head, and her body was covered with bruises, according to Medical Examiner Sally Aiken. She was three months pregnant.

In early January, Braffith told an officer at Pierce County Jail: “I think I killed my wife,” according to a court document.

Prison term issued in 2001 murder

A Spokane man has been sentenced to 36 years in prison in connection with the bludgeoning, rape and killing of a developmentally disabled woman in 2001.

A jury convicted Raymond L. Nelson III on Dec. 20 of first-degree murder in connection with the March 2001 slaying of 41-year-old Diana Dee Wideman. Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke ordered Nelson last Friday to serve 440 months.

The case remained unsolved until June 2004, when Washington State Patrol forensic scientist Lisa Turpen checked the semen DNA taken from the victim against the state database of convicted felons.

Once they had a match, Spokane police detectives Minde Connelly and Brian Hamond interviewed Nelson, who was an inmate at the state prison on McNeil Island. Those conversations resulted in charges against both Nelson and Theodore F. Stewart, 25, who is scheduled to go to trial on April 10.

Pipe-bomb suspect to stay in jail

A Coeur d’Alene man was arraigned Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court on a charge of attempted first-degree murder in connection with a pipe bomb found under a police car near the Public Safety Building last January.

Brian D. Simmons, 36, pleaded not guilty before Judge Maryann Moreno, who ordered Simmons to remain in jail with a $400,000 bond. His trial was set for March 27.

Simmons, who has been kicked out of the U.S. Army, was arrested in Spokane in August, according to court records.

Army investigators learned in May that Simmons had sent e-mails threatening to kill James L. Hughes and Donna Gilmore to regain custody of Simmons’ 2-year-old son.

The child was born to Simmons’ wife, Debbie Simmons, who is Hughes’ sister. Hughes and Gilmore were awarded temporary custody on the grounds the Simmonses were unfit parents. Hughes is a Sheriff’s Office sergeant at the Spokane County Jail, near where the bomb was found.

County sewer bills increase today

Spokane County sewer bills for single-family homes will be 50 cents higher starting today.

The change, which increases the bills to $27.68, was needed because of increased operations costs, said county utilities director Bruce Rawls.

“We realized we were beginning to deplete our reserves,” Rawls said.

County commissioners approved the rise in December.

Increases affect all 29,345 county sewer customers, including apartments and businesses.

The bills with the higher fee will be mailed next week, Rawls said.

Alcohol suspected in U.S. 95 crash

Four people were injured in a crash on Highway 95 Monday evening, and police said alcohol may be a factor.

Jason D. Tastad, 36, was driving south about 10 miles south of Coeur d’Alene when his 1997 Dodge Ram veered off the road and struck a guardrail, according to Idaho State Police. Tastad’s truck then came back onto the road, crossed the centerline and ran head-on into a 1998 Ford Contour driven by 66-year-old Ronald Womeldorff of Coeur d’Alene.

The Ford’s passengers, 60-year-old Nancy Womeldorff and 35-year-old Thomas Goldthorpe – were also taken to Kootenai Medical Center. Ronald Womeldorff was listed in serious condition Tuesday night, said a KMC spokeswoman, and Nancy Womeldorff was listed in fair condition. Goldthorpe was treated and released.

Tastad, who also suffered injuries, was treated and released.

According to ISP reports, Tastad was under the influence of alcohol and could be charged in the crash.