Fatal crash, slayings made news in 2007

On Feb. 1, 62-year-old Fred Boettner was killed in a serious wreck on Meridian Street. Prosecutors allege that Vitaliy Sushch, then 16, and Ryan Franks, then 17, were racing between 80 and 100 mph on Meridian Street before Sushch’s car slammed into a pickup that was carrying Boettner.

The two teens face trial together as adults on Feb. 19.

On Feb. 23, Kusum Patel, 52, of the Spokane area, was sentenced to six months in jail for her part in the operation of a 360-foot underground tunnel that was used to bring drugs across the border near the Lynden- Aldergrove border crossing.

In March, Whatcom County sheriff’s deputies raided a property on Olson Road in Ferndale to recover 41 llamas that neighbors claimed had been neglected.

Owner Lanette Smith will face eight counts of first-degree animal cruelty — one for each of the llamas that had to be euthanized — on Feb. 26.

On March 15, Debra Potes, 47, of Bellingham, was sentenced to four months in jail for stealing at least $88,000 while working in the cashier’s office at Western Washington University between April 2004 and June 2005.

On March 30, 14-year-old Landen Harless died after being hit by a tow truck while walking on Zell Road.

Prosecutors allege that the driver, 47-year-old John C. Rideout, had heroin and marijuana in his system at the time. Rideout is scheduled to go on trial for vehicular homicide Jan. 28.

On April 2, Ryan F. Anderson, 24, was shot and killed during an apparent cocaine deal gone wrong.

Everett residents Arthur T. Scott, 27, and Marcus M. Johnson, 25, were charged with first-degree murder. Police believe Scott and Johnson have ties to a Seattle-area gang. The pair will face first-degree murder charges on March 24.

On May 24, Levi S. Mayfield, Kasey J. McKillip and Jason D. Nickels, son of Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, were indicted by a federal grand jury for their part in a card-fixing scheme that took an estimated $90,000 from the Nooksack Indian Tribe.

All three defendants have pleaded guilty. McKillip and Nickels received three-month prison sentences. Mayfield is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11.

On June 2, 19-year-old Steven A. Rhone Jr. was struck and killed by a car at the corner of High and Indian streets.

The driver, 22-year-old Damian S. Mackay, admitted to drinking between nine and 12 drinks the night he hit Rhone. In October, Mackay was sentenced to four years in prison. His girlfriend, friend and uncle received approximately six months in jail for helping cover up damage to Mackay’s car after he fled the scene.

In July, an arrest warrant was issued for 42-year-old Charles F. Boome. Boome is suspected of breaking into a home near Western Washington University in April and raping a woman. DNA evidence linked Boome to the crime.

Bellingham Police Lt. Flo Simon said police have yet to locate Boome.

On Sept. 7, a 57-year-old Bellingham woman was arrested on suspicion of hiring a hit man to kill her estranged husband.

Bellingham police say Dianna J. Hastings promised an undercover officer $15,000 in exchange for killing 61-year-old Charles Hastings. The couple was in the middle of divorce proceedings.

Dianna Hastings is scheduled to face a charge of solicitation to commit second-degree murder on Feb. 26.

On Sept. 9, the body of 17- year-old Jessica Franklin was found underneath a freeway overpass. An autopsy revealed that Franklin had likely been strangled.

A suspect in the case, 21- year-old Nathan Goninan, remains in jail in Marion County, Ore., on unrelated charges. Bellingham police have forwarded their investigation on to Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney Dave McEachran, who will determine whether there is enough evidence to charge Goninan in Franklin’s death.

On Sept. 14, sheriff’s deputies investigated the killing of a 6-month-old golden retriever puppy near Lake Samish.

Evelyn Wade, 74, was later charged with first-degree animal cruelty in the case. Wade, who said she has had problems with neighborhood dogs in her yard for years, admitted to shooting the puppy when it knocked over one of her birdhouses.

Wade is scheduled to face trial Jan. 29.

On Sept. 26, the Northwest Regional Drug Task Force raided the properties of Bodie and Matthew Gwinner after a yearlong investigation into a methamphetamine and cocaine-dealing operation.

Bodie Gwinner has a trial date scheduled for Jan. 14, while Matthew Gwinner’s trial is scheduled for Jan. 29. Both remain in Whatcom County Jail.

On Oct. 3, Henry Keeler Redlightning was charged with the 1987 murder of Rita Di Sangh, whose body was found in a muddy slough on the Lummi Reservation.

Redlightning spent just over three years in prison for raping a woman in a Bellingham alleyway in 1990.

Redlightning, a member of Lummi Nation, is scheduled to face a first-degree murder charge in U.S. District Court in Seattle on April 21.

On Nov. 29, a Monroebased animal rescue service was called to a 4.9-acre property on Jackson Road that had recently been purchased by the BP Cherry Point Refinery. Investigators found that the previous owners, Michael and Melinda Koenen, had apparently left dozens of chickens, ducks and geese to starve to death in cages on the property.

Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Deputy Jeff Parks said the case remains under investigation.

In December, prosecutor Dave McEachran confirmed that investigators are considering charging former Bellingham resident Bruce Hummel with the murder of his wife Alice Hummel, who disappeared from the couple’s Alabama Hill home in 1990.

Investigators say Bruce Hummel persuaded his children that their mother had moved to another state to find work. Bruce Hummel, now 65, is in jail after being convicted of fraud for cashing his deceased wife’s disability payments for years after her death.

A decision on charges is expected early in 2008.

On Dec. 6, 74-year-old Granite Falls resident Patrick Conway was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree child molestation.

Ferndale police are searching for other possible victims after learning that Conway and his wife ran a day care in the area for more than a decade.

Conway has been released and is scheduled to face trial May 27.

On Dec. 14, federal Drug Enforcement Agency investigators raided several properties and arrested the owners of The Edge, a Bellingham snowboard and skateboard shop, on suspicion of growing and selling marijuana.

Justin L. Maddock, 34, has a trial date scheduled for Feb. 11. Trial dates for Sean A. Hall, 26, and Tobin R. Hall, 24, have yet to be set.

On Dec. 14, Lummi Reservation resident Bartholomew Jefferson was sentenced to 10 years in prison for throwing his 5-month-old son into the armrest of a couch in November 2006. The infant died nine days later.