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Dead body in passenger seat leads to arrest of Tenino man
A Tenino man pulled over Sunday with a dead woman in his pickup told police he had discovered the body on the Chehalis Western Trail hours earlier and then had sexual intercourse with the body, court papers state.
Bernard Keith Howell, 26, told a judge Monday that he is self-employed and delivers meat in Tenino. Until about a month ago, Howell had been staying with his mother in Lakewood, according to his father.
Howell, who has no criminal record, was ordered held at the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder. Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy set bail at $750,000.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John “Jack” Jones told Pomeroy he will seek to have Howell sent to Western State Hospital for a mental health evaluation.
During an interview at the jail, Howell repeatedly told court officials “he heard voices and that he wanted to be alone,” according to court papers.
He denied having anything to do with the woman’s death but said that, after discovering the body, he “became sexually aroused” and had sex with the dead woman.
Detectives are investigating whether Howell is responsible for the disappearance of Nancy Moyer, who went missing from her Tenino home in March 2009 and has never been found, Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said.
Nothing specific connects Sunday’s homicide to Moyer’s disappearance, but detectives are investigating because of the proximity of Sunday’s crime scene to Moyer’s home, Chamberlain said.
“The fact that we have somebody that committed a murder that close in the Tenino area is very suspicious,” he said.
Moyer, 36, vanished from her home March 6, 2009, leaving her car, purse, wallet, credit cards and identification in the home. Her husband came home to find the front door ajar, the television on and a glass of wine on the coffee table in the living room.
The Thurston County Coroner’s Office had not yet contacted the homicide victim’s relatives, so her name was not released. She is described in court papers as in her 50s.
An autopsy was scheduled for today. Coroner Gary Warnock said Monday that the woman died of homicidal violence, but he would not elaborate.
She is believed to have been killed near the Chehalis Western Trail east of Churchill Road in Tenino, where sheriff’s detectives found “blood evidence as well as other physical evidence,” court papers state.
A sport utility vehicle believed to have belonged to the woman was discovered on state Route 507, court papers state. Howell admitted taking $11 and the woman’s car keys from her pockets, court papers state.
According to court papers:
A sheriff’s deputy on regular patrol pulled Howell’s pickup over about 8:15 p.m. Sunday.
A man had flagged the deputy down and told him “there was a suspicious male subject up the road that was attempting to move a body.” The man said the pickup driver had asked him if he “could help him move this body.”
The deputy and a Tenino police officer pulled over the pickup and saw a mass of sleeping bags and blankets in the passenger seat. A human body was inside.
The pickup driver, later identified as Howell, told sheriff’s detective Steve Hamilton “he just wanted to save the family of this woman the $5,000 it would cost to bury her. Mr. Howell stated that he just wanted to give her a free funeral and not have the family pay any money.”
Howell said he had “brought plastic bags, a sleeping bag, zip ties, bungee-type elastic cords and a 10-pound weight with him.” Howell said the weight was to “help her body sink.”
Early Monday, detectives obtained a search warrant for Howell’s pickup and for the home where Howell lives with his 57-year-old father, also named Bernard Keith Howell.
The father, interviewed Monday, said his son’s arrest was “the worst thing that’s happened to me in the world.”
He said relatives had noticed his son had been acting erratically lately.
“I hope he goes where he gets some medical help, because he does have a screw loose,” Howell’s father said.
According to court papers, the younger Howell told a court official “his family wanted him to see a doctor in the past, but he would never return to one after the high cost and little help.”
Howell’s father said his son was well thought of by the family, was a good student and was a wrestler in high school. He said his son delivered gourmet meats for a living, but that the business had fallen on hard times due to the recession.
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/...est.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0wF78WyIo
A Tenino man pulled over Sunday with a dead woman in his pickup told police he had discovered the body on the Chehalis Western Trail hours earlier and then had sexual intercourse with the body, court papers state.
Bernard Keith Howell, 26, told a judge Monday that he is self-employed and delivers meat in Tenino. Until about a month ago, Howell had been staying with his mother in Lakewood, according to his father.
Howell, who has no criminal record, was ordered held at the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder. Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy set bail at $750,000.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John “Jack” Jones told Pomeroy he will seek to have Howell sent to Western State Hospital for a mental health evaluation.
During an interview at the jail, Howell repeatedly told court officials “he heard voices and that he wanted to be alone,” according to court papers.
He denied having anything to do with the woman’s death but said that, after discovering the body, he “became sexually aroused” and had sex with the dead woman.
Detectives are investigating whether Howell is responsible for the disappearance of Nancy Moyer, who went missing from her Tenino home in March 2009 and has never been found, Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said.
Nothing specific connects Sunday’s homicide to Moyer’s disappearance, but detectives are investigating because of the proximity of Sunday’s crime scene to Moyer’s home, Chamberlain said.
“The fact that we have somebody that committed a murder that close in the Tenino area is very suspicious,” he said.
Moyer, 36, vanished from her home March 6, 2009, leaving her car, purse, wallet, credit cards and identification in the home. Her husband came home to find the front door ajar, the television on and a glass of wine on the coffee table in the living room.
The Thurston County Coroner’s Office had not yet contacted the homicide victim’s relatives, so her name was not released. She is described in court papers as in her 50s.
An autopsy was scheduled for today. Coroner Gary Warnock said Monday that the woman died of homicidal violence, but he would not elaborate.
She is believed to have been killed near the Chehalis Western Trail east of Churchill Road in Tenino, where sheriff’s detectives found “blood evidence as well as other physical evidence,” court papers state.
A sport utility vehicle believed to have belonged to the woman was discovered on state Route 507, court papers state. Howell admitted taking $11 and the woman’s car keys from her pockets, court papers state.
According to court papers:
A sheriff’s deputy on regular patrol pulled Howell’s pickup over about 8:15 p.m. Sunday.
A man had flagged the deputy down and told him “there was a suspicious male subject up the road that was attempting to move a body.” The man said the pickup driver had asked him if he “could help him move this body.”
The deputy and a Tenino police officer pulled over the pickup and saw a mass of sleeping bags and blankets in the passenger seat. A human body was inside.
The pickup driver, later identified as Howell, told sheriff’s detective Steve Hamilton “he just wanted to save the family of this woman the $5,000 it would cost to bury her. Mr. Howell stated that he just wanted to give her a free funeral and not have the family pay any money.”
Howell said he had “brought plastic bags, a sleeping bag, zip ties, bungee-type elastic cords and a 10-pound weight with him.” Howell said the weight was to “help her body sink.”
Early Monday, detectives obtained a search warrant for Howell’s pickup and for the home where Howell lives with his 57-year-old father, also named Bernard Keith Howell.
The father, interviewed Monday, said his son’s arrest was “the worst thing that’s happened to me in the world.”
He said relatives had noticed his son had been acting erratically lately.
“I hope he goes where he gets some medical help, because he does have a screw loose,” Howell’s father said.
According to court papers, the younger Howell told a court official “his family wanted him to see a doctor in the past, but he would never return to one after the high cost and little help.”
Howell’s father said his son was well thought of by the family, was a good student and was a wrestler in high school. He said his son delivered gourmet meats for a living, but that the business had fallen on hard times due to the recession.
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/...est.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0wF78WyIo
