(Photo: An August 2015 photo, taken from inside the cell of James Henrikson, who is suspected of ordering the death of Doug Carlile. Prosecutors say Henrikson was in the cell with Bud Ray Brown, another man facing murder charges, when the rope was discovered. Photo courtesy: U.S. Attorney’s Office of Eastern Washington)
The rope of bedsheets that hung from the Spokane County Jail cell in an apparent escape attempt last month was anchored in the cell belonging to James Henrikson, according to federal prosecutors.
Officials initially would not say where the rope, which was discovered by jail staff and workers at the YMCA on Monroe Street early Aug. 20, had originated. But responding to a request last week to push the trial date for Henrikson,
who has been indicted for his alleged role in the December 2013 shooting death of Doug Carlile, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Washington said jail staff “kicked the Defendant out of its facility based on this,” followed by a photo of the rope from inside the cell.
“The United States Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshal’s Office played no part in the decision to remove Defendant Henrikson from the Spokane County Jail,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Aine Ahmed. “It was a decision made by the Spokane County jail, which based on a contract houses federal inmates.”
Henrikson was moved to the Yakima County Jail. His cellmate, Bud Ray Brown, remains in custody of the Spokane County Jail. Brown is facing a first-degree murder charge
in the December 2012 death of David Brandon Deponte.
Federal prosecutors say the incident remains under investigation. They cite a jail guard, who said she walked by the cell Henrikson and Brown shared multiple times, and Henrikson continued to block her view. When she ordered Henrikson to move, Brown - sitting on a bed - smiled, according to court records.
Authorities believe the window of the cell was smashed with a broken broom handle, then dropped from the window, where it smashed into a car below, according to court records.
Henrikson’s defense attorneys cited continuing media coverage of the alleged escape attempt, and of Carlile’s death, in their request for a change of venue last week. The trial is scheduled to commence in Spokane on Oct. 5, but multiple jurors who have already been sent questionnaires mentioned they had seen at least some coverage of the alleged crimes in the media.
U.S. District Court Judge Salvador Mendoza is scheduled to rule on the request for a change of venue next week in Spokane. A hearing is scheduled for this afternoon in Richland, at which defense attorneys are expecting to request Henrikson be moved back to Spokane, or a postponement of the trial date.
Henrikson, along with Timothy Suckow, Robert Delao, Todd Bates, Lazaro Pesina and Robby Wahrer all face multiple criminal counts alleging involvement in murder-for-hire and drug activities. Henrikson and Suckow have also been indicted for their alleged roles in the death of Kristopher “K.C.” Clarke, an oil field employee of Henrikson’s who has been missing since 2012. His body has not been located.
