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Kohler convicted after rape trial
Randy Kohler, 41, of Shelton
was found guilty in Mason Coun-
ty Superior Court Monday of four
unts of second-degree rape after
s one-time girlfriend and the
raother of his daughters described
a five-day "nightmare" of violence
and Unwanted sex.
Julie Smith of Allyn described
the episode on the first day of tes-
timony before Judge James Saw-
Yer and a jury January 20. Her
Veral hours of testimony over
he COurse of the three-day trial
Were Punctuated with tears and
ger. She told the jury that she
u sex with her former boyfriend
Several occasions because she
ed he would beat her if she re-
his advances.
tShe didn't tell the police about
ae incident right away because
sh. e Was weak and confused, she
d, and was planning to kill the
lather of her twin girls, Kayle and
Christine.
hi: I HAD MADE plans to kill
m myself and wasn't thinking
Qout the police," she said during
an emotion-packed question-and-
!SWer session on the afternoon
Janu La, - 20.
Smith s testimony followed
tat of Deputy Kenneth Potts of
te Mason County Sheriffs Of-
ce. He told the jury that he was
Q Patrol around noon last July
When he responded to a rape
c{ nplaint. He took a statement
, )ra Smith and then decided to
ura. the case over to the detective
viaion of the sheriff's office.
_ qt was a valid incident that
it'll ed investigation by someone
Itl more experience than
YIf, he said.
e state then called Smith to
e Stand. Under questioning by
I
)Uty Prosecutor Reinhold
Uetz, she told the jury that
I tier had been her boyfriend
I that she saw him every now
!
l then when he visited with
r daughters.
! EVENTS of interest to
urt began on July 17, when
, Kohler and a friend
Ken Saylor decided to take
er friend, JoAnn Matthews,
attle so she could get free
cal attention for her four ab-
ed teeth. 2 f; "
,. ley decided to take a 2 - oo
!79 Nissan Seabreeze motor-
rae that Kohler wanted to buy
bra Smith's mother. He had
B a livin in the Nisqually area
had broken up with a girl-
md who worked at a camp-
i lld there. "He wanted to buy
rron her because he had no-
e to live," Smith said.
-e group dropped the chil-
dren off to be cared for by their
grandmother at their uncle's
house in the Skokomish Valley
and proceeded to Seattle, where
they delivered Matthews to Har-
borview Medical Center. Smith
and Kohler remained in the
camper while their friend sought
medical attention, jurors were
told.
Smith testified that Kohler
started slapping her around and
abusing her verbally, and that
she tried to leave the motorhome
but he grabbed her by the hair.
She said he slapped her dozens of
times, accusing her of having sex
"with everyone he knew," she
said.
SMITH TESTIFIED that
Kohler cornered her in a bed
tucked above the cab of the mo-
torhome and undressed her,
taunting her with the names of
various people he believed she
had been intimate with while per-
forming oral sex on her and call-
ing her names.
"Ken knocked on the door and
Randy told him we needed more
time. Ken thought we were
talking," she said.
She said Kohler forced a beer
down her throat and, after some
conversation, abused her some
more, Smith said. At one point,
she said, she became so afraid
that she urinated on herself.
"I was afraid he'd kill me," she
said.
She said she then told him she
loved him so that he would stop
hitting her and that afterwards
they talked for about 20 minutes.
Saylor came back and knocked
again and this time Kohler let
him in.
MATTHEWS SOON joined
them and Smith gave the group
an account of the events that had
just transpired, she said. Mat-
thews told Smith to go to a doctor
but she refused because Kohler
"gave her a dirty look."
The group then drove back to
Mason County, with Kohler and
Smith taking turns at the wheel.
They stopped at a gas station and
at Mother Nature's Acres in Nis-
qually before dropping Saylor off
at Lake Limerick. While proceed-
ing to Highway 101 by way of
Brockdale Road, Smith said, they
recognized Matthews' boyfriend's
van coming toward them. As the
motorhome and van sat nose to
nose on the shoulder, the man ap-
proached the camper and told
Matthews and Kohler to get out,
Smith said.
Matthews' boyfriend, Smith
testified, "was very mad," and
wanted to beat up Kohler for tak-
ing Matthews to Seattle, but
Kohler did not get out of the mo-
torhome.
After Matthews left with her
boyfriend, Smith said the vehicle
would not start. "Randy said to
come in the back for sex," Smith
stated. She told the court that
several times she said she told
him no, she was in too much pain
but that Kohler told her "You
come back here if you know
what's good for you."
THEY WERE interrupted
when Matthews' boyfriend re-
turned and saw the motorhome
still parked on shoulder. Smith
said she got dressed, rolled down
the window and told him the ve-
hicle would not start. When
Schuetz asked Smith why she did
not clue in the man about what
was happening, she said, "Randy
was close to me. I was afraid if I
said anything he'd hurt me
again."
They arrived at her uncle's res-
idence in the Skokomish Valley
where Smith and her three chil-
dren and mother reside. She said
she went into the house to use the
bathroom and told her mother
she fell from the motorhome.
When she returned to the
camper, Smith said Kohler want-
ed to have sex again. Again she
told him no, she testified, that she
was in pain but they had sex on
the top bunk after which he fell
asleep. Smith said she lay there
and could hear her children
laughing and playing on swings
on the trees. "I didn't want to
wake him up," she said.
Later in the afternoon, the two
went into the residence and ate
dinner with her children and
mother. "Everybody ate dinner. I
couldn't physically open my
mouth far enough to eat," Smith
said.
SMITH SAID she and Kohler
had sex a number of times over
the next four days. She said that
sometimes she told him she didn't
want sex and sometimes she held
her tongue but that in any event
she never wanted to have sex
with him.
"I didn't want to but I did any-
way because I was afraid," she
said. "It was a nightmare. Every
single day I didn't know what he
wanted or what he was going to
do to me."
Smith said that his repeated
slapping had dislocated her jaw.
"Every day when I woke up my
jaw would be dislocated," she
said. She testified that at one
point he used sex toys to intrude
on her private parts.
On two occasions, she said, he
and seemed to threaten harm to
the children if she told the truth
instead.
Smith said Kohler took the
twins and Amy, Smith's older
daughter, to Kneeland Park while
she sought medical assistance
from the chiropractor. She said
she wound up setting the jaw her-
self because the chiropractor
wouldn't do it for her.
SHE PASSED by the sheriffs
office and the police department
on her way to Kneeland Park,
Smith said, but told the jury she
had "made plans to kill him my-
selff and wasn't thinking about
seeking police intervention.
She said Kohler bought some
rum and Coke and then took her
and the children to a campground
with the idea of celebrating her
birthday there. She said that on
three or four occasions he told
Amy to take the twins for a walk
so that he and Smith could have
sex.
Smith said she took a different
approach after a friend named
Patrick called her from Nevada.
"I told him that Randy beat the
crap out of me, tried to kill me
and had sex with me when I
didn't want to," she said.
KOHLER WAS arrested after
Smith's mother, Alma Silverwood,
called the police about an out-
standing Spokane warrant for his
arrest. On a friend's advice,
Smith indicated, she had called
Glenn Keefe, his probation officer.
Keefe also told her to call the po-
lice. She then called the authori-
ties in Shelton and Seattle.
The cross-examination of
Smith by defense attorney Ron
Sergi was postponed so that other
witnesses could testify. Saylor
told the court that he took his dog
for a walk while the group was in
Seattle. When he returned Kohler
told him that he and Smith had
had a fight. Smith didn't say
much. He said she looked like she
had been crying.
"She looked like her lips were a
little bit swollen and she was
hunched over a little bit," he told
the court.
Michael S. Myers of Lacey is a
physician's assistant at the
Health Care Center in Shelton.
He testified that he treated Smith
on the day after Kohler's arrest
and that he saw that she had a
tender jaw and bruises on her
arms and hips.
"She said that she had been
beaten numerous times around
the head, struck with an open
hand," he told the jury.
do more to help her friend. "I was
in no condition to do anything
about it," she said.
SILVERWOOD ALSO told
the court that her daughter wa§
hurting upon her return from
Seattle. "She was limping when
she came through the door and
had black and blue on her face
and neck and head," she said.
She said her daughter told her
she had fallen out of the motor-
home but after a few days of let-
ting Kohler stay in the motor-
home near her own residence she
decided that she was going to call
the police because he posed a
threat to Smith.
"I told her to go down and hide
in the pasture until he was
taken," she said.
The state rested after Silver-
wood testified. Defense attorney
Sergi called Jeff Bean of Hoods-
port to the stand. He said he saw
Kohler, Smith and three of
Smith's children shortly after the
Seattle trip and that he found
nothing unusual in Smith's de-
meanor or appearance. He said
she was smoking and talking nor-
mally.
SERGI THEN called Detective
Michael Foster of the Mason
County Sheriff's Office to the
stand for the defense. Foster said
he didn't search the motorhome
and he didn't interview Kohler.
In his closing remarks, Sergi
said Smith's story was exagger-
rated and that she had a chance
to escape when they stopped to
get gas on the way back from
Seattle. He said if she'd really
been beaten someone would have
noticed.
"She must not have looked as
bad as she thought she looked or
she would have drawn attention
to herself," he said.
Schuetz, in his closing argu-
ments, said Smith is part of a
"dysfunctional unit of friends"
who are able to ignore obvious
signs of trouble. "The victim in
this case was essentially a psy-
chological hostage from the point
of the beating to the point of
where the police came in," he
said.
The jury appeared to agree.
Judge Sawyer scheduled sen-
tencing for February 4.
The jurors were Douglas Reim-
ers, Scott Geist, Merrill Russell,
Norma Conn, Philip Knowles,
Kenneth Perry, Donna Crump,
Thomas Tiede, Carol Sande, Jane
Burns, Linda Shallit and Pamela
Cassidy. Brenda Cleveland was
the alternate.
In superior court:
John sentenced
for forgery, drugs
An Olympia man who two
weeks earlier was found guilty of
three crimes in two Mason Coun-
ty Superior Court jury trials was
sentenced last Thursday to al-
most five years in prison.
The sentencing judge observed
that were it not for drugs, Ed-
ward Dean John probably
wouldn't have been in court at all.
John, 44, whose most recent
address in the court files was
6831 East Martin Way, Olympia,
was sentenced to 40 months in
prison for possessing heroin, 20
months for possessing ampheta-
mines and 19 1/2 months for forg-
ing a $71 check.
Judge James Sawyer ordered
that the sentences for drug pos-
session be served concurrently.
He'll start serving the sentence
for forgery after that time is
served.
John was also ordered to pay
$2,573.25 in costs, fines and fees
and to make $71 in restitution tbr
the forged check.
He was also given a 90-day
sentence for driving with a sus-
pended license. That sentence
will be served concurrently with
those for the drug offenses. He
was ordered to be on community
supervision by the Washington
Department of Corrections for 12
months following his release.
Sawyer told John to stay away
from alcohol and drugs as a condi-
tion of his sentence. "I don't think
there's very much question that
but for drug addiction you
wouldn't be here," the judge said.
Griese Burdeen
9
enter guilty pleas
Two cases set for trial in up-
coming Mason County Superior
Court terms were resolved with
changes of plea during the past
week.
Karol Lynn Griese, 34, of
1212 West Railroad Avenue, Shel-
ton entered a change of plea in a
case filed in December. She pled
guilty Thursday to a charge of
theft in the second degree. She
was arrested on December 17 af-
ter police were told she had left
Wal-Mart in Shelton with a bas-
ket full of Christmas presents she
hadn't paid for.
Judge James Sawyer sched-
uled sentencing for March 4. He
released her on her personal-re-
cognizance while a pre-sentencing
report is prepared. The court
noted that she has prior convic-
tions for forgery and possession of
heroin.
Deputy prosecutor Reinhold
Schuetz said he would recom-
mend a mid-range sentence. The
goods taken from the store were
said to be worth more than $250.
Donald Burdeen, 57, who
currently lives in Eastern Wash-
ington, pleaded guilty Monday to
a charge of assault in the fourth
degree and unlawful handling
and carrying of a weapon.
He was arrested November 25
after he allegedly waved a knife
at Margaret Burdeen, his es-
tranged wife. A no-contact order
was entered and Burdeen agreed
to live out of the area pending
resolution of the case.
Judge Sawyer scheduled his
sentencing for March 4.
RJ's Mufflers
and More
2316 Olympic
Highway North
427-3581
For oil your outomotive repoir needs
left the house to go to work but SERGI THEN began his
cross-examination of Smith. Re-
00Vrong name listed she didn't call the police. Thefirst
time she fell asleep and by the spending to his questions.she said
second time she had decided she there were a lot of people around PIONEER HIGH SCHOOL
,v^r l Jlg"or"n witness was going to kill him. the motorhome when it was
parked near Harborview, includ- AND
"AT THAT TIME I wasn't ing security guards. She also de-
: thinking clearly at all," she said. scribed how they stopped at Ii gas
cited in Mason ing Norling, Lingle reportedly dis- "I wanted a gun and I wanted to station o way back from FACILITIES BOND
Superior Court last week
wrong name of a witness
of two cases filed against
resident Leonard L. Norl-
identified as a real-
where Norling,
allegedly assaulted
P. Woodworth on January
Amber Lapic, as origi-
but Amber Beasley,
to Shelton Police Detec-
is scheduled to be ar-
today on two felony
that could send him to
the rest of his life. If he is
the two separate charg-
strikes two and three
the "three-strikes-you're-
law affecting chronic vi-
"Offenders.
is charged with armed
and assault in connection
that allegedly oc-
earlier this month. The ar-
charge stems from
that occurred earlier
in the 300 block of
Seventh Street in Shelton.
to court papers, Norl-
that one Joe Mar-
over a Tommy Hilfiger
at $165.
Martin refused, Norling
knife and threatened to
if he didn't give Norl-
coat," Lingle wrote in a
on file in Mason Coun-
Court. Lingle wrote
then gave the coat to
had told Martin she
the garment while the
was in earshot.
received a complaint
later he arrested
the assistance of
Them Adams and
of SPD. While frisk-
covered the top of a whiskey bot-
tle in an outside pocket of his
coat. The broken glass may be
used to connect Norling to allega-
tions that he had assaulted Wood-
worth with a whiskey bottle earli-
er at the home of Amber Beasley
on Shelton-Matlock Road.
According to court papers,
Norling has an extensive court
record going back to 1989, when
he was first convicted in juvenile
court at the age of 12.
kill him."
Tuesday, July 21, the fifth day
of her "nightmare," was Smith's
birthday. Smith said that Kohler
came home about 11 a.m. from
his job near Lake Cushman,
where he stacks wood and makes
lawn ornaments. Worried about
her jaw, she insisted he take her
to a physician but he took her to a
chiropractor instead.
She told the jury he told her to
say she fell out of the motorhome
Seattle.
Smith told the court that she
and Smith had lived together un-
til he was jailed in March of 1997.
JoAnn Matthews told the court
that while the four were in Seat-
tle, Kohler told the others that he
had beat Smith up. "She was
mumbling," Matthews said. "You
could tell the jaw was hurting her
because she was talking between
her teeth."
Sergi asked her why she didn't
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VOTE YES!
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND
FACT: The bond market is at the lowest it has been. The cost to the taxpayer
is approximately $1.30 per $1,000 assessed value as opposed to $1.90 last
April. It more than likely won't go any lower, but it will go up.
FACT: If we don't build a high school in Pioneer District, they will have to
build another one in Shelton. AND WE WILL PAY FOR IT. Our cost to Shelton
when they build their new high school will be in the neighborhood of $4.8
million dollars.
FACT: The Pioneer School District currently pays Shelton High School
$400,000 dollars per year for our students to attend. Passing the bond would
end our financial obligation to the Shelton School District and bring approxi-
mately $4.5 million dollars in state matching funds for the construction of a
new high school in Pioneer District.
FACT: We enable Pioneer District to continue building vital community cen-
ters, communication resources, theater and art centers, athletic facilities,
meeting and classroom facilities that will enhance the quality of life for ALL
of the families of Pioneer District.
FACT: Having our own high school will attract more families to move into
our area, therefore giving us a broader tax base.
FACT: The Pioneer School District will be asking you to VOTE YES for the
$16,130,000 bond proposal. $1,210,000 would go to the Primary School for
6 additional classrooms. $4,965,000 would go to the Intermediate/Middle
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would go toward construction of a new high school.
VOTE YES ON FEBRUARY 2nd. IT JUST MAKES SENSE..
J Paid for by Pioneer Citizens for Education; E530 Phillips Lake Loop, Shelton,WA. 98584 ]
CARING =OR THOSE YOU CARE ABOUT
Thursday, January 28, 1999 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 17
Kohler convicted after rape trial
Randy Kohler, 41, of Shelton
was found guilty in Mason Coun-
ty Superior Court Monday of four
unts of second-degree rape after
s one-time girlfriend and the
raother of his daughters described
a five-day "nightmare" of violence
and Unwanted sex.
Julie Smith of Allyn described
the episode on the first day of tes-
timony before Judge James Saw-
Yer and a jury January 20. Her
Veral hours of testimony over
he COurse of the three-day trial
Were Punctuated with tears and
ger. She told the jury that she
u sex with her former boyfriend
Several occasions because she
ed he would beat her if she re-
his advances.
tShe didn't tell the police about
ae incident right away because
sh. e Was weak and confused, she
d, and was planning to kill the
lather of her twin girls, Kayle and
Christine.
hi: I HAD MADE plans to kill
m myself and wasn't thinking
Qout the police," she said during
an emotion-packed question-and-
!SWer session on the afternoon
Janu La, - 20.
Smith s testimony followed
tat of Deputy Kenneth Potts of
te Mason County Sheriffs Of-
ce. He told the jury that he was
Q Patrol around noon last July
When he responded to a rape
c{ nplaint. He took a statement
, )ra Smith and then decided to
ura. the case over to the detective
viaion of the sheriff's office.
_ qt was a valid incident that
it'll ed investigation by someone
Itl more experience than
YIf, he said.
e state then called Smith to
e Stand. Under questioning by
I
)Uty Prosecutor Reinhold
Uetz, she told the jury that
I tier had been her boyfriend
I that she saw him every now
!
l then when he visited with
r daughters.
! EVENTS of interest to
urt began on July 17, when
, Kohler and a friend
Ken Saylor decided to take
er friend, JoAnn Matthews,
attle so she could get free
cal attention for her four ab-
ed teeth. 2 f; "
,. ley decided to take a 2 - oo
!79 Nissan Seabreeze motor-
rae that Kohler wanted to buy
bra Smith's mother. He had
B a livin in the Nisqually area
had broken up with a girl-
md who worked at a camp-
i lld there. "He wanted to buy
rron her because he had no-
e to live," Smith said.
-e group dropped the chil-
dren off to be cared for by their
grandmother at their uncle's
house in the Skokomish Valley
and proceeded to Seattle, where
they delivered Matthews to Har-
borview Medical Center. Smith
and Kohler remained in the
camper while their friend sought
medical attention, jurors were
told.
Smith testified that Kohler
started slapping her around and
abusing her verbally, and that
she tried to leave the motorhome
but he grabbed her by the hair.
She said he slapped her dozens of
times, accusing her of having sex
"with everyone he knew," she
said.
SMITH TESTIFIED that
Kohler cornered her in a bed
tucked above the cab of the mo-
torhome and undressed her,
taunting her with the names of
various people he believed she
had been intimate with while per-
forming oral sex on her and call-
ing her names.
"Ken knocked on the door and
Randy told him we needed more
time. Ken thought we were
talking," she said.
She said Kohler forced a beer
down her throat and, after some
conversation, abused her some
more, Smith said. At one point,
she said, she became so afraid
that she urinated on herself.
"I was afraid he'd kill me," she
said.
She said she then told him she
loved him so that he would stop
hitting her and that afterwards
they talked for about 20 minutes.
Saylor came back and knocked
again and this time Kohler let
him in.
MATTHEWS SOON joined
them and Smith gave the group
an account of the events that had
just transpired, she said. Mat-
thews told Smith to go to a doctor
but she refused because Kohler
"gave her a dirty look."
The group then drove back to
Mason County, with Kohler and
Smith taking turns at the wheel.
They stopped at a gas station and
at Mother Nature's Acres in Nis-
qually before dropping Saylor off
at Lake Limerick. While proceed-
ing to Highway 101 by way of
Brockdale Road, Smith said, they
recognized Matthews' boyfriend's
van coming toward them. As the
motorhome and van sat nose to
nose on the shoulder, the man ap-
proached the camper and told
Matthews and Kohler to get out,
Smith said.
Matthews' boyfriend, Smith
testified, "was very mad," and
wanted to beat up Kohler for tak-
ing Matthews to Seattle, but
Kohler did not get out of the mo-
torhome.
After Matthews left with her
boyfriend, Smith said the vehicle
would not start. "Randy said to
come in the back for sex," Smith
stated. She told the court that
several times she said she told
him no, she was in too much pain
but that Kohler told her "You
come back here if you know
what's good for you."
THEY WERE interrupted
when Matthews' boyfriend re-
turned and saw the motorhome
still parked on shoulder. Smith
said she got dressed, rolled down
the window and told him the ve-
hicle would not start. When
Schuetz asked Smith why she did
not clue in the man about what
was happening, she said, "Randy
was close to me. I was afraid if I
said anything he'd hurt me
again."
They arrived at her uncle's res-
idence in the Skokomish Valley
where Smith and her three chil-
dren and mother reside. She said
she went into the house to use the
bathroom and told her mother
she fell from the motorhome.
When she returned to the
camper, Smith said Kohler want-
ed to have sex again. Again she
told him no, she testified, that she
was in pain but they had sex on
the top bunk after which he fell
asleep. Smith said she lay there
and could hear her children
laughing and playing on swings
on the trees. "I didn't want to
wake him up," she said.
Later in the afternoon, the two
went into the residence and ate
dinner with her children and
mother. "Everybody ate dinner. I
couldn't physically open my
mouth far enough to eat," Smith
said.
SMITH SAID she and Kohler
had sex a number of times over
the next four days. She said that
sometimes she told him she didn't
want sex and sometimes she held
her tongue but that in any event
she never wanted to have sex
with him.
"I didn't want to but I did any-
way because I was afraid," she
said. "It was a nightmare. Every
single day I didn't know what he
wanted or what he was going to
do to me."
Smith said that his repeated
slapping had dislocated her jaw.
"Every day when I woke up my
jaw would be dislocated," she
said. She testified that at one
point he used sex toys to intrude
on her private parts.
On two occasions, she said, he
and seemed to threaten harm to
the children if she told the truth
instead.
Smith said Kohler took the
twins and Amy, Smith's older
daughter, to Kneeland Park while
she sought medical assistance
from the chiropractor. She said
she wound up setting the jaw her-
self because the chiropractor
wouldn't do it for her.
SHE PASSED by the sheriffs
office and the police department
on her way to Kneeland Park,
Smith said, but told the jury she
had "made plans to kill him my-
selff and wasn't thinking about
seeking police intervention.
She said Kohler bought some
rum and Coke and then took her
and the children to a campground
with the idea of celebrating her
birthday there. She said that on
three or four occasions he told
Amy to take the twins for a walk
so that he and Smith could have
sex.
Smith said she took a different
approach after a friend named
Patrick called her from Nevada.
"I told him that Randy beat the
crap out of me, tried to kill me
and had sex with me when I
didn't want to," she said.
KOHLER WAS arrested after
Smith's mother, Alma Silverwood,
called the police about an out-
standing Spokane warrant for his
arrest. On a friend's advice,
Smith indicated, she had called
Glenn Keefe, his probation officer.
Keefe also told her to call the po-
lice. She then called the authori-
ties in Shelton and Seattle.
The cross-examination of
Smith by defense attorney Ron
Sergi was postponed so that other
witnesses could testify. Saylor
told the court that he took his dog
for a walk while the group was in
Seattle. When he returned Kohler
told him that he and Smith had
had a fight. Smith didn't say
much. He said she looked like she
had been crying.
"She looked like her lips were a
little bit swollen and she was
hunched over a little bit," he told
the court.
Michael S. Myers of Lacey is a
physician's assistant at the
Health Care Center in Shelton.
He testified that he treated Smith
on the day after Kohler's arrest
and that he saw that she had a
tender jaw and bruises on her
arms and hips.
"She said that she had been
beaten numerous times around
the head, struck with an open
hand," he told the jury.
do more to help her friend. "I was
in no condition to do anything
about it," she said.
SILVERWOOD ALSO told
the court that her daughter wa§
hurting upon her return from
Seattle. "She was limping when
she came through the door and
had black and blue on her face
and neck and head," she said.
She said her daughter told her
she had fallen out of the motor-
home but after a few days of let-
ting Kohler stay in the motor-
home near her own residence she
decided that she was going to call
the police because he posed a
threat to Smith.
"I told her to go down and hide
in the pasture until he was
taken," she said.
The state rested after Silver-
wood testified. Defense attorney
Sergi called Jeff Bean of Hoods-
port to the stand. He said he saw
Kohler, Smith and three of
Smith's children shortly after the
Seattle trip and that he found
nothing unusual in Smith's de-
meanor or appearance. He said
she was smoking and talking nor-
mally.
SERGI THEN called Detective
Michael Foster of the Mason
County Sheriff's Office to the
stand for the defense. Foster said
he didn't search the motorhome
and he didn't interview Kohler.
In his closing remarks, Sergi
said Smith's story was exagger-
rated and that she had a chance
to escape when they stopped to
get gas on the way back from
Seattle. He said if she'd really
been beaten someone would have
noticed.
"She must not have looked as
bad as she thought she looked or
she would have drawn attention
to herself," he said.
Schuetz, in his closing argu-
ments, said Smith is part of a
"dysfunctional unit of friends"
who are able to ignore obvious
signs of trouble. "The victim in
this case was essentially a psy-
chological hostage from the point
of the beating to the point of
where the police came in," he
said.
The jury appeared to agree.
Judge Sawyer scheduled sen-
tencing for February 4.
The jurors were Douglas Reim-
ers, Scott Geist, Merrill Russell,
Norma Conn, Philip Knowles,
Kenneth Perry, Donna Crump,
Thomas Tiede, Carol Sande, Jane
Burns, Linda Shallit and Pamela
Cassidy. Brenda Cleveland was
the alternate.
In superior court:
John sentenced
for forgery, drugs
An Olympia man who two
weeks earlier was found guilty of
three crimes in two Mason Coun-
ty Superior Court jury trials was
sentenced last Thursday to al-
most five years in prison.
The sentencing judge observed
that were it not for drugs, Ed-
ward Dean John probably
wouldn't have been in court at all.
John, 44, whose most recent
address in the court files was
6831 East Martin Way, Olympia,
was sentenced to 40 months in
prison for possessing heroin, 20
months for possessing ampheta-
mines and 19 1/2 months for forg-
ing a $71 check.
Judge James Sawyer ordered
that the sentences for drug pos-
session be served concurrently.
He'll start serving the sentence
for forgery after that time is
served.
John was also ordered to pay
$2,573.25 in costs, fines and fees
and to make $71 in restitution tbr
the forged check.
He was also given a 90-day
sentence for driving with a sus-
pended license. That sentence
will be served concurrently with
those for the drug offenses. He
was ordered to be on community
supervision by the Washington
Department of Corrections for 12
months following his release.
Sawyer told John to stay away
from alcohol and drugs as a condi-
tion of his sentence. "I don't think
there's very much question that
but for drug addiction you
wouldn't be here," the judge said.
Griese Burdeen
9
enter guilty pleas
Two cases set for trial in up-
coming Mason County Superior
Court terms were resolved with
changes of plea during the past
week.
Karol Lynn Griese, 34, of
1212 West Railroad Avenue, Shel-
ton entered a change of plea in a
case filed in December. She pled
guilty Thursday to a charge of
theft in the second degree. She
was arrested on December 17 af-
ter police were told she had left
Wal-Mart in Shelton with a bas-
ket full of Christmas presents she
hadn't paid for.
Judge James Sawyer sched-
uled sentencing for March 4. He
released her on her personal-re-
cognizance while a pre-sentencing
report is prepared. The court
noted that she has prior convic-
tions for forgery and possession of
heroin.
Deputy prosecutor Reinhold
Schuetz said he would recom-
mend a mid-range sentence. The
goods taken from the store were
said to be worth more than $250.
Donald Burdeen, 57, who
currently lives in Eastern Wash-
ington, pleaded guilty Monday to
a charge of assault in the fourth
degree and unlawful handling
and carrying of a weapon.
He was arrested November 25
after he allegedly waved a knife
at Margaret Burdeen, his es-
tranged wife. A no-contact order
was entered and Burdeen agreed
to live out of the area pending
resolution of the case.
Judge Sawyer scheduled his
sentencing for March 4.
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left the house to go to work but SERGI THEN began his
cross-examination of Smith. Re-
00Vrong name listed she didn't call the police. Thefirst
time she fell asleep and by the spending to his questions.she said
second time she had decided she there were a lot of people around PIONEER HIGH SCHOOL
,v^r l Jlg"or"n witness was going to kill him. the motorhome when it was
parked near Harborview, includ- AND
"AT THAT TIME I wasn't ing security guards. She also de-
: thinking clearly at all," she said. scribed how they stopped at Ii gas
cited in Mason ing Norling, Lingle reportedly dis- "I wanted a gun and I wanted to station o way back from FACILITIES BOND
Superior Court last week
wrong name of a witness
of two cases filed against
resident Leonard L. Norl-
identified as a real-
where Norling,
allegedly assaulted
P. Woodworth on January
Amber Lapic, as origi-
but Amber Beasley,
to Shelton Police Detec-
is scheduled to be ar-
today on two felony
that could send him to
the rest of his life. If he is
the two separate charg-
strikes two and three
the "three-strikes-you're-
law affecting chronic vi-
"Offenders.
is charged with armed
and assault in connection
that allegedly oc-
earlier this month. The ar-
charge stems from
that occurred earlier
in the 300 block of
Seventh Street in Shelton.
to court papers, Norl-
that one Joe Mar-
over a Tommy Hilfiger
at $165.
Martin refused, Norling
knife and threatened to
if he didn't give Norl-
coat," Lingle wrote in a
on file in Mason Coun-
Court. Lingle wrote
then gave the coat to
had told Martin she
the garment while the
was in earshot.
received a complaint
later he arrested
the assistance of
Them Adams and
of SPD. While frisk-
covered the top of a whiskey bot-
tle in an outside pocket of his
coat. The broken glass may be
used to connect Norling to allega-
tions that he had assaulted Wood-
worth with a whiskey bottle earli-
er at the home of Amber Beasley
on Shelton-Matlock Road.
According to court papers,
Norling has an extensive court
record going back to 1989, when
he was first convicted in juvenile
court at the age of 12.
kill him."
Tuesday, July 21, the fifth day
of her "nightmare," was Smith's
birthday. Smith said that Kohler
came home about 11 a.m. from
his job near Lake Cushman,
where he stacks wood and makes
lawn ornaments. Worried about
her jaw, she insisted he take her
to a physician but he took her to a
chiropractor instead.
She told the jury he told her to
say she fell out of the motorhome
Seattle.
Smith told the court that she
and Smith had lived together un-
til he was jailed in March of 1997.
JoAnn Matthews told the court
that while the four were in Seat-
tle, Kohler told the others that he
had beat Smith up. "She was
mumbling," Matthews said. "You
could tell the jaw was hurting her
because she was talking between
her teeth."
Sergi asked her why she didn't
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VOTE YES!
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND
FACT: The bond market is at the lowest it has been. The cost to the taxpayer
is approximately $1.30 per $1,000 assessed value as opposed to $1.90 last
April. It more than likely won't go any lower, but it will go up.
FACT: If we don't build a high school in Pioneer District, they will have to
build another one in Shelton. AND WE WILL PAY FOR IT. Our cost to Shelton
when they build their new high school will be in the neighborhood of $4.8
million dollars.
FACT: The Pioneer School District currently pays Shelton High School
$400,000 dollars per year for our students to attend. Passing the bond would
end our financial obligation to the Shelton School District and bring approxi-
mately $4.5 million dollars in state matching funds for the construction of a
new high school in Pioneer District.
FACT: We enable Pioneer District to continue building vital community cen-
ters, communication resources, theater and art centers, athletic facilities,
meeting and classroom facilities that will enhance the quality of life for ALL
of the families of Pioneer District.
FACT: Having our own high school will attract more families to move into
our area, therefore giving us a broader tax base.
FACT: The Pioneer School District will be asking you to VOTE YES for the
$16,130,000 bond proposal. $1,210,000 would go to the Primary School for
6 additional classrooms. $4,965,000 would go to the Intermediate/Middle
School for renovation, modernization and additional classrooms. $9,955,000
would go toward construction of a new high school.
VOTE YES ON FEBRUARY 2nd. IT JUST MAKES SENSE..
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CARING =OR THOSE YOU CARE ABOUT
Thursday, January 28, 1999 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 17