Suspect wants proof of death

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A man accused of killing the Northwest’s “dog trainer to the stars” is prepared to admit at trial that he did it – as long as prosecutors can prove the trainer is dead.

Jury selection begins today in the murder trial of Michiel Oakes, who is accused in the disappearance of Theodore Mark Stover. The body of Stover, who trained the pets of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, moviemaker Cameron Crowe and Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, has not been found.

“If the state can prove that Stover is dead and that it was a homicide, then we will claim self-defense,” said Oakes’ attorney, John Henry Browne.

Browne concedes it won’t be tough for the state to prove Stover is dead. Prosecutors say abundant physical evidence ties Oakes with Stover’s disappearance: His blood was found at Oakes’ home in Anacortes, along with shell casings that matched one of Oakes’ handguns, detectives say.

Stover’s blood was also found in Oakes’ car.

And on the morning Stover disappeared last year, police say Oakes had purchased ankle weights, anchor line and shin guards at a nearby Walmart, according to a receipt found in his car and store surveillance tapes.

Oakes is the bodyguard-turned-boyfriend of Stover’s ex-wife, Linda Opdycke. The couple went through a contentious divorce in 2007, and Stover was convicted of stalking her and ordered to give up dozens of guns he kept. But friends say he had moved on and was engaged to another woman when he vanished in October 2009.

While together, the couple operated a kennel, Island Dog Adventures, on an island owned by the Opdycke family 55 miles north of Seattle. Linda’s father, Wallace, was a founder of Washington’s biggest winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle.

After the divorce, Stover left her rambling, angry voice messages and sometimes showed up uninvited at her home in north-central Washington. She eventually hired a bodyguard – Oakes – whom she started dating.

Stover moved the kennel off the island, which the Opdyckes sold to the state in a $14 million deal that closed this year.

Stover was last seen by his employees on the morning of Oct. 28, 2009. A few hours later, a woman reported seeing two cars – Oakes’ and Stover’s – parked rear-to-rear less than a mile from Stover’s home. She told detectives she saw a man moving a bundle wrapped in clear plastic between the cars.

The next day, investigators arrived at Stover’s home to find his protection dog, Dingo, shot and wounded. There were blood stains downstairs, and a bathroom reeked of bleach.

When detectives questioned Oakes at Opdycke’s home, he left and tossed a plastic bag with a .22-caliber handgun down a 25-foot embankment, deputies said. They arrested him and took a 9 mm handgun out of his waistband.

In his car, they found a bulletproof vest with a spent bullet in it – evidence that is expected to be key if Oakes claims self-defense. Experts for the state say the bullet was consistent with being fired from one of Oakes’ guns, and that it appeared to have been fired as the vest was flat on the ground.

Opdycke told one detective she hadn’t seen Stover since April 2008 and that she had received no communication from him in some time. And police do not have a motive for why Oakes apparently went to Stover’s home, although prosecutors say he told a witness that he had been hired by Opdycke’s wealthy father.