Five men in murder-for-hire plot to plead guilty

Five of the men accused of working for James Henrikson, the man investigators believe ordered the murder of Doug Carlile in December 2013, will plead guilty to charges Wednesday. Timothy E. Suckow, Todd D. Bates, Robert A. Delao, Lazaro T. Pesina and Robby Joe Wahrer are scheduled to sign plea agreements ahead of a trial that is tentatively scheduled to begin in Spokane next month. A grand jury handed down an indictment in September 2014 accusing Suckow of shooting and killing Carlile at the direction of Henrikson, who told police he’d been jilted on an oil lease. Delao and Bates are accused of acting at Henrikson’s direction to target other business foes, according to court records. Investigators believe Suckow also acted at Henrikson’s direction to kill Kristopher “K.C.” Clarke, one of Henrikson’s oil field employees, in North Dakota in February 2012. Clarke’s body has not been found. Henrikson’s attorneys have argued that media coverage leading up to the trial has tainted the jury pool against him, and have requested the trial be moved. Details of the guilty plea agreements, including which charges the men will plead to, have not been released. Henrikson was moved to the Yakima County Jail last month after a rope made of bedsheets was discovered swinging from his Spokane County Jail cell. Later Wednesday, attorneys are expected to argue how much physical evidence may be admitted at trial, including phone records and testimony of certain witnesses. All of the men have been in custody since the indictment was handed down more than a year ago.