Bank employee accused of burning down her Tekoa home for insurance money

When a two-story home in Tekoa became engulfed in flames last fall, few suspected arson.

Whitman County firefighters doused the blaze at 503 Truax St. on the night of Sept. 18. The home was a total loss.

“At the time, the cause of the fire really was undetermined,” Whitman County Sheriff Brett Meyers said. “There was no obvious sign of arson or anything like that.”

That’s pretty common, Meyers said. Maybe an appliance overheated or some faulty wiring sparked.

“It wasn’t until the 1st of January that we got a tip that there’s more to this,” Meyers said, “that it was intentionally set.”

By that time, the homeowner, 51-year-old Diane R. Galler, had filed an insurance claim for the incinerated home, Meyers said. She received $150,000.

Investigators now believe Galler hired two brothers from Spokane – Darien M. Rhoads, 21, and Raymond C. Rhoads, 24 – to burn down her house so she could reap the insurance payment.

Meyers said the suspects used an accelerant to start the fire. He said they’re cooperating and have admitted their roles to investigators.

Galler and Darien Rhoads were arrested on Friday, and Raymond Rhoads turned himself in after learning there was a warrant out for his arrest, Meyers said. They were booked into the Whitman County Jail on charges of first-degree arson.

Galler’s LinkedIn page says she has worked for several banks, most recently as a compliance officer for Inland Northwest Bank. Newspaper records also show she was a compliance officer for the Bank of Fairfield.

Both of the Rhoads brothers have criminal histories, according to court records.

Meyers said the tipster had direct knowledge of the crime and had previously notified an insurance claim investigator. He declined to give details of the investigation but said it involved multiple search warrants.

“There were a lot of different avenues that we needed to explore,” he said.

Meyers gave special credit to Sgt. Chris Chapman, who led the investigation and has been with the Sheriff’s Office for more than 20 years.

The sheriff said Chapman “built great rapport with the informant and did everything that needed to be done in order to crack this open.”