August 9, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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F AR.S
back,n
By NATALIE JOHNSON trial hearing.
natalie@masoncounty.cbrn Baze's trial is scheduled
Travis Baze, charged
with first-degree murder in
the death of Shawn Joseph
Morrow in March, appeared
in Mason County Superior
Court Monday for his pro-
to start between Aug. 21
and Oct. 29. The defense and
prosecution agreed the trial
would take five to seven days.
Mason County Prosecutor
Mike Dorcy said the court
would schedule specific court
dates within that time pe-
riod.
Stephen Churchill has
also been charged with first-
degree murder in Morrow's
death. His pro-trial hearing
is scheduled for Monday.
Authorities say Morrow
met Baze and Churchill on
March 26 at a public fish-
ing area in the 3900 block of
State Route 3, with the in-
tent of buying heroin.
According to authorities,
Baze and Churchill beat
Morrow with a baseball bat.
Morrow died of his inju-
ries on March 30. Baze and
Churchill were charged in
the crime that day, and held
on $1 million bail.
All
kidnapper to appear in court
Fresh Meaty Pork
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@nmsonc.ounty.com
The police report stated that Shel-
ton's truck was parked at the bottom
of that hill.
Eoff was able to escape after she
bit Shelton on his hand, the report
states.
Shelton Police Officer Calvin Mo-
ran explained the justification for
those charges in his report.
"Based on the time of day, mini-
mal lighting and secretive manner
in the way that Shelton parked and
walked up on Eoff, restrained her
and then secretly held her in place
where she was not likely to be found,
(probable) cause exists for the arrest
of Shelton for kidnapping in the sec-
ond degree and assault in the fourth
degree."
When she broke free, Eoff flagged
down the first car she saw, which was
a Mason County Sheriffs deputy.
--. Family Owned & Operatea --
Foreign & Domestic Auto Repair & Service
369-275-6405 • |8271 [ State Route 3
iocatedin DowntownAIIVn - Behind Allyn View RV Park ~
Member
Mon-Fri 6:30 a.m.-6:00 o,m • Sat 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
215 South Second • 426-3371
Serving She~ton and Mason County for 86 year
James Alan Shelton, the man ac-
cused of assault and kidnapping after
an incident at 2:30 a.m. on July 28,
will make his next court appearance
on Monday.
Shelton has been charged with sec-
ond degree kidnapping and fourth de-
gree assault and is being held in the
Mason County Jail on $100,000 bail.
According to the Shelton Police,
Cale Eoff was walking up the hill on
Olympic Highway North when she
heard footsteps behind her.
Authorities said Shelton came
out of the bushes and attacked Eoff
from behind. They struggled, and ac-
cording to the police report, Shelton
dragged Eoff 30 feet down the hill.
STAFF REPORT
pr@rnasoncoun~v.com
The deputy alerted other officers
in the area to look for a man of Shel-
ton's description.
A Shelton Police Officer stopped a
blue pickup truck with its lights out.
The driver and sole occupant of the
vehicle matched the victim's descrip-
tion of her attacker and had a fresh
bleeding wound on his hand, accord-
ing to the report.
According to Moran's report, Shel-
ton denied any intent to harm or kid-
nap Eoff. He told officers that he said,
"Hello," to Eoff and she attacked him,
the report states.
Eoff has identified Shelton as her
attacker.
Shelton was previously accused of
rape and murder in Snohomish Coun-
ty in 1974. After a plea deal, he was
convicted of second-degree murder.
He was released in 2010.
man dies on Spencer L;
A Puyallup man died Sunday in an
accident on Spencer Lake, the Mason
County Sheriffs Office reported.
John E. Eads, 60, was wakeboard-
mg on Spencer Lake with his family
on Sunday when he fell into the water
just before 5 p.m.
Amber alert
teen found safe
Authorities say she ran away
Family members and bystanders
pulled Ends out of the water and start-
ed CPR.
Mason County Sheriffs Deputies
and Mason County Fire District 5 per-
sonnel responded and were not able to
revive Eads. He was pronounced dead
at the scene.
The sheriffs office initially reported
that Eads' family said he had some
sort of seizure before falling into the
By NATALIE JOHNSON
nam lie(~'ma, soncounty,com
Aug. 1, representatives from'TV news
station and law enforcement organiza-
tions such as the FBI and Washington
State Patrol Crime Lab swarmed into
Mason County after an Amber Alert was
issued for 16-year-old Viviana Gastmr
Guerrero.
Guerrero was found safe later that after-
noon after one of her friends tipped off Ma-
son County Sheriffs deputies that she was
in the Agate area of Mason County.
Chief Deputy Dean Byrd
of the Mason County Sher-
iffs Office characterized
Guerrero as "simply a run-
away."
"During the course of
the investigation the de-
tectives identified friends
and acquaintances of the
young lady," Byrd said.
Viviana "Those people were con-
Gaspar tacted and advised to let
Guerrero us know if they heard from
her."
Byrd said after finding
Guerrero and questioning her, deputies
concluded that the incident was not an ab-
duction, as was originally thought.
"She left the residence on her own free
will," Byrd said.
The sheriffs office issued the Amber
Alert for Guerrero after she was reported
m]ssing from her home at 7:30 a.m. last
Wednesday morning.
Deputies arrived at her home nine miles
west of Shelton in the Dayton area to find
her bedroom window open and her screen
cut. Her room was in disarray and she had
left her cell phone behind.
Byrd said these are telltale signs of a
possible abduction.
"All of those things indicate to us that
we needed to take fast action to ensure her
safety," he said.
While there has been some speculation
in the media about whether Guerrero could
face charges or be expected to pay expenses
associated with the search for her, Byrd
• said because there is no evidence proving
that Guerrero purposely faked her own ab-
duction, that would likely not be the appro-
priate action.
Page A 2 - Shelton-Mason County Journal -Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012
water.
Mason County Coroner Wes Stock-
well released a report Monday after-
noon stating that Eads did not die
from drowning, but rather from natu-
ral causes, most likely a cardiac event.
Ends was a retired sergeant with
the Puyallup Police Department.
Powers Funeral Home of Puyallup
will be handling the funeral arrange-
meats.
:ourtesy pnoto
Mason County SheriWs Office deputies will be
conducting emphasis patrols in the Matlock area
later this month.
Sheriffs office emphasis
patrols headed to Matlock area
Mason County Sheriffs Of-
fice deputies will be conduct-
ing emphasis patrols in the
Matlock area of Mason County
during the last two weeks in
August
The emphasis will focus on
traffic violations as well as oth-
er violations that come ~o the
deputies' attention.
This ]s an ongoing effort by
the Mason County Sheriffs Of-
fice to reduce criminal activity
in remote areas of the county
and be more responmve to the
public safety needs in those
communities, officials said. A
number of sheriffs deputies
will be specifically assigned ~o
conduct high visibility enforce-
ment m neighborhoods that
have been identified as high
crime areas. Deputies will
also concentrate on intelligence
gathering activities in an at-
tempt ~o identify suspects in
these high crime areas.
One such emphasis patrol
has already been conducted
by sheriffs deputies assigned
~o the Hoodsport area in July.
During that emphasis, deputies
made 55 traffic stops, issued 15
infraction notices and seven
criminal citations, impounded
~wo vehicles, made three war-
ran~ arrests, conducted two
drug investigations and con-
~acted six suspicmus persons.
Deputies were also able to
gain several investigative leads
on property crimes in the Hood-
sport area that will hopefully
lead to more arrests.