Malden man who hid body of dead teenager in safe arrested again in Spokane

A Malden man recently released from prison after helping conceal the death of a teenager found buried in a safe in Spokane County is back in custody on unrelated charges.

Bobby J. Bilderback, 48, was arrested without incident at a gas station in north Spokane on Friday evening, according to the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office. Bilderback, who served 23 years on a first-degree murder charge in Chelan County before 17-year-old Donavin Stapert’s body was discovered in a shallow grave in Chattaroy, faces charges of assault and unlawful possession of a firearm stemming from an argument at his home in Malden, according to a sherrif’s office news release.

Court records show Bilderback pleaded guilty to charges in August 2013 tied to Stapert’s death. The teen died of a meth overdose at a house belonging to Bilderback on March 7, 2013, in Malden. Bilderback and his wife put Stapert’s body in the safe and sealed it with caulk, according to court records, before trucking it to wooded state land and burying the safe at least a day after Stapert’s death.

Bilderback’s wife, Chastity, and another man present during the incident, James Larry Ramson, also pleaded guilty to charges connected to Stapert’s death, according to court records. They are not currently in Washington Department of Corrections custody.

The United States Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force assisted in apprehending Bilderback, who is in custody at the Whitman County Jail. Bilderback is scheduled to make a first appearance on the weapon and assault charges Monday.