Last suspect in murder of alleged drug dealer found guilty

The last remaining defendant in the gruesome murder of an alleged Spokane drug dealer was found guilty of federal murder and drug charges last week.

Domingo Valdovinos was one of seven people implicated in the February 2014 killing of David Whitman, who was beaten, shot multiple times, set on fire and dumped near Long Lake in Stevens County. Witnesses said he was killed because he allegedly owed large amounts of money and stole drugs from other dealers.

Valdovinos and co-defendants Benito Baldovinos-Mendoza, Dillon Casteel and Joseph Gillespie were indicted in November 2014 on a federal charge of murder in connection with conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine, as well as conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Baldovinos-Mendoza, Casteel and Gillespie all pleaded guilty to the murder charge last year and are awaiting sentencing.

Two other men in the federal case pleaded guilty to drug charges not tied to Whitman’s murder.

In May 2014, Gillespie also pleaded guilty in Spokane County Superior Court to first-degree assault in connection with the case. Superior Court charges against Valdovinos, Baldovinos-Mendoza and Casteel were dropped following their federal indictment.

Two other defendants, Teresa Geile and Christine Morlan, were accused of helping to abduct Whitman and his girlfriend. Morlan pleaded guilty last September to two counts of second-degree kidnapping and was sentenced to three years in prison. Geile pleaded guilty last October to a drug charge and two counts of criminal mischief. She was sentenced to 84 days in jail.

Valdovinos was found guilty of three federal charges Jan. 28 and will be sentenced April 27.