Hours after fatal South Hill shooting, suspect was back at work in newspaper’s production facility

Hours after police say Anne Carpenter shot two people on the lower South Hill, the 23-year-old apparently went to work and handled newspapers that included the details of her alleged crime.

In a search warrant filed Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court, police said they had reason to believe that Carpenter clocked in to her Dec. 19 graveyard shift at The Spokesman-Review production facility, where she worked part time inserting ads into the newspaper. Despite a city-wide manhunt in full swing with helicopters circling above, the woman was able to work her entire shift unabated, police said.

Carpenter, 23, is accused of shooting Michael Troy, 64, and Danette Kane, 59, multiple times at the Westview Manor apartment complex on the lower South Hill on Dec. 19. Police believe the 23-year-old may have been motivated by her father facing eviction.

Kane died from her injuries. Troy remains hospitalized with wounds to his head and neck, but his condition is improving, friends said.

Police interviewed multiple witnesses who placed a woman, later identified by police as Carpenter, in the parking lot of the apartment complex, pacing back and forth and confronting anyone who walked outside, asking if they were the manager. Kane, who owns the complex, was in her room on the third floor with her son, Daniel, when they saw the woman on the wraparound balcony outside the apartment.

After telling her there were no vacancies, Danette Kane asked her to leave, according to court records. A short time later, Daniel Kane encountered her again on the southeast corner of the building.

Danette Kane apparently called Troy, who said he would ask her to leave, court documents say. Shortly after, Daniel Kane said he heard three gunshots and saw Troy lying in the parking lot. He asked his mother not to go outside, but she exited anyway.

He heard three more gunshots. Danette Kane died feet from her front door.

Witnesses told police they saw the suspect run down the side of the hill that leads to the Latah Creek area. K-9 officers tracked her to the creek and found a gray winter coat along the west riverbank, but lost the woman’s scent.

In the days after the murder, multiple people came forward with information, including employees at The Spokesman-Review who said Carpenter worked the nights before and after the shooting. Security footage shows the woman wearing a distinct-looking coat similar to one police found and witnesses described seeing before and after the killing.

Employees also said Carpenter was keeping items in two lockers in the women’s restroom/shower room at the production facility, 1 N. Monroe St. Lenny Kerstetter, her supervisor, told police she was not authorized to use the lockers.

Kerstetter also said Carpenter would sometimes sneak into the building when she wasn’t working and would use the bathroom and shower. She is believed to have returned to the facility three days after the shooting to use the bathroom.

In their warrant filed Tuesday, police requested access to the two lockers. In them they hope to find a .38-caliber handgun and ammunition, the same caliber that matched six spent shell casings found at the scene.

When she was arrested Dec. 22 near the NorthTown Mall, Carpenter had a 9 mm handgun on her with a concealed carry permit.