Pasco police, sheriff dispute leak allegation

Pasco police and the Franklin County sheriff are disputing that their agencies leaked information to Spokane murder suspect Richard Aguirre.

Deputy Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Treece said in court Friday that there is “reason to believe” that members of the Pasco Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office leaked information to Aguirre, a former Pasco police officer accused of killing Ruby Doss in Spokane in 1986.

Pasco police spokesman Capt. Ken Roske released a statement late Saturday that the prosecutor’s claim is “incorrect.”

“Spokane police made notification to the Pasco Police Department affirming that no officers in Pasco are believed to have provided investigative information to Aguirre and they are not sure why a deputy prosecutor would have included Pasco police officers in the court record,” Roske said.

The department has fully cooperated with Spokane police and will continue to do so, Roske said.

Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond made a similar statement. “I also have received the same response from (an) SPD official as Pasco,” he wrote in an email. “It seems that the Spokane deputy prosecutor is speaking out of turn.”

Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell said Sunday he has heard no new information about the allegations since Friday and was unaware that anyone from SPD had contacted Pasco police.

“My office has no investigatory arm,” he said. “My information in this case comes from SPD. I need to get some more details.”

Haskell said he would likely release more information today.

Aguirre is in the Spokane County Jail on $1 million bond on charges of first-degree murder and voyeurism.