February 2, 2023 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Halftime perfOrmance
The Shelton High School dance team performs a routine during halftime of a
girls basketball game
between the Highclimbers and Rochester on Jan. 26 at Terry Gregg Court in
Shelton.
Journal photo by Justin Johnson
,‘Tale of survival’
Shelton womanis story, on, foateline’
3; Gordon Weeks
gordon@masoncounty com ‘
A profile on an anti-govern-
ment and anti-law enforcement
extremist set to air on NBC’s
“Dateline” at 9 pm. Friday will
feature the recollections of his for-
mer wife, a longtime Shelton resi-
dent, and his son, a 2002 Shelton
High School graduate.
Lloyd Barrus, 67, is serving
three concurrent life sentences
without parole in a Billings, Mon-
tana prison. He was in the driv-
er’s seat when he and his now
deceased son Marshall Barrus
lured Broadwater County Deputy
Mason Moore into chasing them,
and Marshall then shot him in
the face. Moore‘left behind three ‘
children.
It wasn’t Lloyd Barrus’ first
high-profile confrontation with
law officers. In March 2020, he
fired shots at a California High-
way Patrol helicopter in Death
Valley, forcing the pilot to land.
Debra del Basque, a Shelton
resident who works in the kitch-
en at the Mason County Senior
Activities Center, shared the de-
tails of her tumultuous marriage
to Lloyd in an interview last June
with “Dateline’s” Keith Morrison
at the Little Creek Casino Resort
in Shelton. Son Al Barrus joined
them in the interview.
00111.
ll 1 l lllll
53263
8
While living'in Anchorage, the
two fled the abusive Lloyd when
Al was 6.
“I knew if we didn’t get away,
we’d be harassed or killed,” Deb-
ra said in an interview with the
Shelton—Mason County Journal.
Del Bosque is the widow of
Ricardo del Bosque, a- Shelton
School District liaison to the His-
panic community who died from
COVID in 2021. In sharing her
experiences, “I hope it helps peo-
ple,” she said. “I could have been
a statistic, a woman killed and
my children put into the foster
system.”
“She has ‘a story of survival
and hope,” Al told the Journal in
a telephone interview from his
home in New Mexico.
“Dateline” producers contacted
Debra shortly after the death of
Ricardo.
“At that time, I didn’t have one
ounce of ability to give them my
time; So I ignored them,” she said.
Then Lloyd received a life sen-
tence with no chance for parole.
The “Dateline” team had attended
all the court hearings, Debra said.
“I said, ‘I’m not opposed to do-
ing an interview now,’ ” she said.
Lloyd Barrus — who has 10
children in three families
changed during their marriage,
Debra said.
'“He used to be a hard worker,
District legislators
addressJenino house
Page 2
.INSIDE TODAY
Lloyd Barrus
always had his own flooring busi-
ness Then he left the church,
and that’s when the trouble
began.” . '
Al said he has few early memo-
ries of his father. One involved»
his dad forcing him to pick out a
switch froma tree for a beating
following an infraction.
“He is a horrible man,” he said.
When Al and his mother fled,
“We left in the middle of the
night.” The move,was coordinated
with the police, he said. .
They spent a few days at a
shelter for victims of domestic
violence and then moved briefly
to Mesa, Arizona. They changed
their last name. And they moved
to Shelton, where Debra’s parents
lived. Al entered kindergarten at
Pioneer Elementary School.
When he was in middle school,
his father would call him and re- ‘
fer to him by his nickname “Ti-
ger.” Al was aware of his father’s
anti—government and law enforce-
ment rants. ‘
~New school
board member
By Gordon Weeks
gordon@masoncounty. com
Lauren Gilmore, a research analyst for the state
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, is
the new member of the Shelton School Board.
At a special meeting Tuesday night at CHOICE
High School, the school board voted 3-1 to choose
Gilmore from five applicants to replace Mafivaest
on the five-member board.
Best was vice chairman of the board when he
died Nov. 20. He was 67. Best joined the board in
2021 and represented District 2.
Best was appointed to the five-member board
in September 2021 to replace Lynn Eaton, who re~
signed that June after moving out of the director
district. Best won a new term in the Nov. 2 general
election. Gilmore will complete that term.
The other applicants for the position were An-
drew Wilford, Shannon Williams, Jonathon Isham
and Ross Gallagher. The four school board mem-
bers - with Matt Welander participating via Zoom
from Maryland — interviewed the five candidates
individually for 15 minutes. The board then met
behind closed doors for an executive session that
lasted more than an hour before resuming the pub—
lic meeting for the vote. Welander, Keri Davidson
and Karla Knudsen-Johnston voted for Gilmore,
and Sandy Tarzwell voted against.
Gilmore has two daughters who attend schools
in the district. In the fall of 2021, she worked as a
substitute teacher at Olympic Middle School and
Shelton High School.
Gilmore is a research analyst for OSPI’s Cen-
ter for Improving Student Learning in Olympia.
She develops and conducts education research, in-
cluding collecting and analyzing information, solv-
.ing problems, and communicating those results to
stakeholders and policymakers.
On Thesday evening, Lauren Gilmore was in-
terviewed by the four members of the Shelton
School Board as one of five applicants to re-
place the late Marty Best on the five-member
board. Journal photo by Gordon Weeks ‘
Two arrested for
Kneeland assault
By Matt Baide
matt@masoncounty. com
The Shelton Police department arrested two
suspects Jan. 27 for an assault at Kneeland Park.
‘ According to police documents obtained through
a public records request, Officer Warren Ohlson
stated he arrived at Kneeland Park for a distur~
bance call and found a man who was bleeding from
see SURVIVAL, page 8
Fire 12. investigation
nears conclusion
Page i O
see ASSAULT, page
North MasOn girls hoops
secure district berth
Page 19 ‘