In brief: Body in lake tied up, according to witness

Tue., March 27, 2012

The body of a man found in a creek in Whitman County was bound at the arms and legs, a witness said, and the Sheriff’s Office is investigating it as a homicide.

The witness, Nick Backman, was at the south end of Bonnie Lake on Sunday when the body was recovered. Backman was interviewed by investigators there.

Backman said Monday he believes the victim is a Rosalia man who has been missing since a dinner party at his house on Dec. 27.

Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said Monday, “We are certainly following up on every lead.”

An investigation is under way and the Sheriff’s Office hopes to identify the victim, as well as determine the cause and manner of death, this week, according to a news release.

Backman said the victim was chased from the dinner party at his home by a man who burst in. He said house break-ins might have led to the chase. The body was retrieved from a creek a quarter mile south of Bonnie Lake near Belsby Road, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Bonnie Lake crosses the Spokane and Whitman county line. The sheriff said a fisherman spotted the body on Sunday.

Mike Prager

Truck allegedly burned by spurned boyfriend

A truck fire outside an East Sprague Avenue motel reportedly was spurred by a lover’s triangle and fueled by not just a Molotov cocktail but the promise of methamphetamine in return.

Donald S. Georgette was staying at the Maple Tree Motel, 4824 E. Sprague Ave., with a woman who was trying to end her relationship with Odean B. Chappel, 44, when Georgette received threatening text messages from Chappel around Feb. 5, according to court records filed last week.

Georgette’s 1975 Ford truck was set on fire Feb. 6 between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.

A woman who was staying in a shed at 1828 E. Riverside Ave., told fire investigators two men prepared a Molotov cocktail there using a beer bottle, rag and gasoline while they discussed doing a job for Chappel, documents say.

One of those men told investigators he later saw Chappel give the other man, Jesse James Icard, 43, methamphetamine as a payment for burning the truck. Chappel has been arrested and appeared in court Monday on arson, harassment and manufacture of an incendiary device charges. Icard still is at large.

Meghann M. Cuniff

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