Several people charged in Maple Falls firearm thefts

PETER JENSEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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Several people have been charged with possessing firearms stolen from a home in the Maple Falls area in January and allegedly trying to sell them or exchange them for drugs.

The home, located on the 8700 block of Frost Creek Road, was burglarized Jan. 28.

Resident Floy Markham told Whatcom County Sheriff's deputies someone had broken in through a skylight and stole about $25,000 worth of valuables, including 14 firearms, laptop computers, jewelry and money.

Markham said he came home from work that evening to find his stuff gone and rain falling into his master bedroom through the open skylight.

Markham said this was the first time his house has been burglarized in the 14 years he's lived in the area with his wife.

"I've never had any trouble up there," Markham said.

Markham suspected Kyler N. Lee, 27, of Glacier because Lee had recently done roofing work on the house and worked on skylights in its roof.

Before the burglary, Markham and Lee argued about how much Lee should be paid for the work.

According to charging documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court:

In April, Deputy Ryan Bonsen interviewed Lee, who admitted to entering Markham's home Jan. 28 through the skylight and stealing jewelry, money and electronics.

Lee at first said he was by himself, didn't know who took the guns, and claimed the gun thieves must have broken in after he left.

In a later interview during the investigation, Lee backtracked and said Robert M. Nelson, 42, of Ferndale and Armando Zamudio, 32, of Lynden were with him during the break-in. He said they broke into the gun cabinets, but there were so many guns Nelson and Zamudio decided to come back later for them.

Handguns, shotguns and rifles were stolen from the cabinets.

Nelson and Zamudio denied being involved with the break-in when interviewed.

Lee said Nelson later told him he planned to trade some of the guns for methamphetamine. One man interviewed by Bonsen said Lee was looking for people with heroin that he could get by trading the guns.

Nelson and another man, Joelseph J. McCollum, 29, of Maple Falls, sold one rifle in a parking lot near the Frosty Inn. Lee said Nelson was involved in the sale, and the man who bought the rifle implicated McCollum through a photo lineup, according to the charging documents.

Bonsen recovered some of Markham's property from pawnshops, and found other items in Lee's bedroom, which he searched with Lee's permission.

Markham said he's been checking pawnshops around the county looking for his stuff, and said Bonsen managed to track down his class ring from his high school in Oklahoma.

"Now what's the chance somebody in Whatcom County graduated from the same high school as I did?" Bonsen asked.

Sheriff's Chief Criminal Deputy Jeff Parks said deputies are still investigating the whereabouts of the 13 other guns. A man interviewed by Bonsen said Nelson told him he had been trading guns for methamphetamine in the Lynnwood area, according to charging documents.

Lee, Zamudio and Nelson were charged with first-degree burglary and possession of a stolen firearm May 6. Because they are convicted felons, Zamudio, Nelson and McCollum are facing unlawful possession of a firearm charges.

Their trial date is set for June 29.