Killer sentenced to 69 years in prison

A prolific criminal and former police informant was sentenced Thursday to serve 69 years in prison after he was convicted earlier this year of the torture death of another man, who was killed by being run over by a car.

Ben Alan Burkey, 46, was sentenced Thursday by Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque. A jury convicted Burkey in June of charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery in connection with the death last year of 52-year-old Rick Tiwater.

Burkey’s co-defendant, 41-year-old James Phillip Tesch, was sentenced in July to 40 years in prison after he was convicted of the same crimes.

During separate trials, attorneys for Tesch and Burkey each blamed the other’s client for the killing.

Tiwater’s body was found Sept. 5, 2005, on a trail leading from the 13400 block of East Laurel Road in north Spokane County.

Prosecutors said Tiwater was beaten with a golf club, a hammer and had his head set on fire before he was run over by a car.

Investigators found Tiwater’s skin and blood on the undercarriage of Burkey’s 1987 Ford Thunderbird.

– Thomas Clouse

Decision postponed on Kendall Yards

The city of Spokane’s hearing examiner has postponed until after Sept. 8 a decision on an 80-acre residential and commercial development proposed just north of downtown Spokane.

Greg Smith initially projected issuing a decision on Kendall Yards by today. However, he decided to reopen the public record on the development to allow briefs filed on an appeal of the environmental impact statement to be entered, he said in a letter sent Wednesday to parties in the case. The appellant, Rachael Osborn, has until Sept. 8 to respond to briefs filed by the city’s attorney and an attorney for developer Marshall Chesrown.Smith said he would issue a decision as quickly as possible, on both the environmental appeal and the development itself, following that submittal. However, it could take up to two weeks for a decision to be rendered, he said.

– Alison Boggs