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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
April 19, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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April 19, 2012
 
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Thursday, April 19, 2012 16 -- The Voice of Mason County since 1886 -- Published for Mason County and June Hove of Shelton -- $1 Man dmits killi ife; h i sarily-itwasaprelimina re-shotandkilledVanessawhileshe orsonmadehisfirstappear- a to ngW e s port," he said. was laying on the couch in the liv- ance in Mason County Superior Deputies continued to question ing room. Christopher said that he Court last Friday afternoon. b h e ld on $1 m illion ba ilThorson, Byrd said. then took the shotgun back to the The court found probable cause e-~O "They got to the scene and he was master bedroom and took it apart to charge Thorson with first-degree cooperative with law enforcement," again and put it back into the hope murder with a domestic violence By NATALIE JOHNSON shooting his wife of 37 years, Van- he said. "Then the story changed to chest," the report states. "Chris- enhancement. ~atalie.@masoncounty.com essa M. Thorson, 55. that they had been arguing." topher said that he then went out A lawyer was appointed to rep- The Thorsons recently moved to The couple had been drinking to the back porch and sat down to resent Thorson with Mason County the Lake Cushman area from Stei- and got into an argument Thursday smoke and drink some wine." Superior Court Judge Toni Shel- Mason County experienced its lacoom, afternoon, according to the sheriffs After a "short time," the report don presiding. second murder in less than a month Chief Deputy Dean Byrd of theoffice. Byrd saMThorson told depu- states, Thorson called 911. Med- Thorson is being held on $1 mil- last Thursday, when authorities Mason County Sheriffs Depart-ties that Mrs. Thorson said to him, ics arrived at the scene and pro- lion bail. His arraignment is sched- say Lake Cushman resident Chris- ment said Mr. Thorson called the "Why don't you just shoot me?" nounced Mrs. Thorson des& uled for 11 a.m on Monday. topher D. Thorson murdered his department Thursday afternoon to "Christopher said he knew he The report concludes by saying Two weeks ago, sheriffs depu- wife with a shotgun, report that he had killed his wife, had his son's guns located in Van- that deputies consider Thorson to ties say Shawn Morrow was at- Thorson was charged with mur-who he said had dementia, in an essa's hope chest in their master be a danger to himself and his com- tacked with a baseball bat while der last friday, and is being held on assisted suicide, bedroom," the deputies' probable munity, trying to purchase heroin in a pub- $1 million bail after admitting to Deputies arrived at the scenecause report stated. "Christopher has shot hiswifelic fishing area on State Route 3. killing his wife last Thursday. and began questioning Thorson. Thorson then retrieved the 12Of 37 years with a shotgun and is a Morrow died of his injuries, ~md The Mason County Sheriffs of-Byrd said they were skeptical of gauge Remington 870 shotgun and danger to himself and others as he Travis Carl Baze and Stephen R.C. rice arrested Thorson, 64, of Hood- Thorson's account of the incident shot Mrs. Thorson at about 3:30 has also stated that he Should have Churchill have been charged with sport 'on Thursday for investiga- as an assisted suicide, p.m., the report states, shot himself or even his neighbors," murder. tion of murder after he admitted to "We weren't believing it neces- "Christopher said that he then the report states. Mental health tax money coming in County looks at forming an advisory board ....... I By NATALIE JOHNSON na talie@masoncou nty,com, Next time you make a purchase in Mason County, you'll be helping fund men- tal health and substance abuse programs. In November 2011, the Mason County Board of Commissioners approved a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax increase for the pur- pose of funding new mental health and substance abuse programs. This month, the county began collecting that mon- ey, said Vicki Kirkpatrick, director of public health and human services for Mason County. "It's about $500,000 a year," she said. The county's first step, Kirkpatrick said, is to form an advisory committee to screen requests for funding. Eleven residents, rep- resenting both north and south ends of the county, have applied to be a part of the committee. Kirkpatrick plans to ask the county commission to vote to appoint members to the committee at its next meeting on May 1. "The first order of busi- ness will be establishing by- laws for the advisory com- mittee," she said. Once the committee takes care of its "infrastructure," as Kirkpatrick called it, in- cluding meeting times and the election of a chair, they can discuss their responsi- bilities as far as the admin- istration of the tax money. The county commission will have the final say on what organizations get to use money from the mental health fund, but the adviso- ry committee will make rec- ommendations to the board. See Tax on page A-5 81111U!!I!}II!!!!IJII112 Journal Di~OtO O~ Natahe Johnson Michelle Loza hopes to raise enough money for her, her brother, Edwin, and mother, Claudia, to seek citizenship. Edwin and Claudia were deported to Guatemala five years ago. Friends and family of the Loza's have scheduled a fundraiser on April 28. Organizers aim to raise funds to bring back deported mother, son By NATALIE JOHNSON nagc~[,ie@ntasoncounty.com In January 2007, Edwin Loza was working hard to graduate from Shelton High School when his academic dreams were put on hold. Edwin. who was born in Guatemala, was detained, along with his mother, by U.S. Immigrations and Customs En- forcement (ICE) agents in 2007 after he turned 18. This month, Edwin's friends and fam- ily in Shelton are holding a fundraiser on his behalf to help raise the $4,500 needed to purchase 10-year visas and bring Ed- win and his mother back to Shelton while they seek citizenship. The fundraiser to benefit the Loza Family Fund is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 28 at the Mason Transit Community Center at the Youth Em- powerment Strategies Office at 601 W. Franklin St. in Shelton. Edwin's younger sister, Claudia, "Mi- chelle" Loza said her mother, also named Courtesy onolo Edwin Loza spent much of his life in Shelton before being deported to Guatemala five years ago. Claudia, were detained by ICE agents in 2007. "It was a day I went to school like nor- mal," said Michelle. 19. Her uncle was de- tained on the same day. Three days later, her brother Edwin was detained as he left his family's house to pick up his younger brother, Kevin. from school. Michelle said. Edwin was kept for three months at a detainment facility in Tacoma, Michelle said. Immigration officials allowed him to return to Shelton long enough to obtain his high school diploma from CHOICE high school. "I watched Edwin graduate. That was my first year here," said Miles Nowlin, family support liaison for the Shelton School District While studying at CHOICE. Edwin wore a monitoring bracelet on his ankle. Nowlin said Nowlin has assisted the Loza family since that day to navigate the citizenship process and stay together through trying times. Since their deportation, Edwin and his mother have been living in Guatemala, a country Edwin barely knew, having left with his mother, sister and younger brother as a young child. "Edwin was 7 years old when they crossed the border," Nowlin said. "In talk- ing to Edwin. returning to a country he'd never known was a frightening thing." After coming to this country with her three small children, Claudia married See Family on page A-5