Eighth person arrested for alleged connection to Whatcom County murder at Acme park
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office has made an eighth arrest in connection to a planned robbery that ended in the death of a 21-year-old Sedro-Woolley woman at a park in Acme earlier this month.
Courtney Lea Kinley, 21, was booked into Whatcom County Jail Monday, April 27, on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance.
Before Kinley’s arrest, the sheriff’s office arrested Brent Scott Gerber, 47, on April 6; Tyler James O’Keefe, 23, on April 9; and Patyon Thomas Mulryan, 25, on April 10 for their alleged role in the robbery and murder of Darian D. Sather April 4 at the South Fork Park in Acme.
Also on April 10, Tiffany Marie Mulryan, 29; Cody Anderson Ternan, 35; Kimberly Ann Swendt, 28; and Zackery William Harkness, 29, were arrested on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance after they allegedly helped Payton Mulryan evade deputies.
Kinley is suspected of helping her boyfriend, O’Keefe, evade deputies before he was arrested, Chief Deputy Kevin Hester told The Bellingham Herald in an email Tuesday.
Deputies received a tip that O’Keefe was staying at a residence near Ferndale, watched him leave with a group of people and arrested him without incident after a traffic stop on Decatur Drive, according to an sheriff’s office release on his arrest.
Sather’s death
Sather and two friends drove to South Fork Park early April 4, to buy drugs. When the three arrived, they parked behind a truck with Gerber, O’Keefe and Payton Mulryan inside and Sather got out with $250 to purchase drugs, according to Whatcom County Superior Court records.
The sheriff’s office determined Gerber’s truck matched the description of the vehicle that allegedly hit and killed Sather and that he told friends he was in the Acme area “when something bad happened to a girl,” the court records state.
During an interview with investigators, Gerber said Payton Mulryan asked him for a ride to the park in Acme so Mulryan could meet with a girl who “had apparently done something to him in the past,” court records state.
Gerber agreed to give Mulryan a ride, knowing Mulryan intended to rob Sather of $250 after setting up a fake drug deal, according to court records. Gerber said he, Mulryan and O’Keefe, who was seated in the back, drove to the park just before dawn Saturday.
Gerber said after Sather gave Mulryan money, Mulryan yelled at him to drive away. Gerber said he accelerated to 30 mph and started swerving, but Sather was holding onto the truck. Gerber said Mulryan and O’Keefe hit Sather in the face and body, and O’Keefe attempted to use a Taser on her, court records state. Gerber told investigators he remembered the passenger door opening and Sather falling to the ground.
Sather’s friends told deputies they determined she had been run over by the truck and was dead and left the scene “because they were scared,” according to court records.
Whatcom County Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Goldfogel ruled Sather’s death a homicide and determined she died within seconds or minutes of being struck by the truck from massive head injuries, he told The Herald in an email Tuesday.
Gerber, O’Keefe and Payton Mulryan remain in Whatcom County Jail awaiting a jury trial scheduled to begin June 15 — Gerber in lieu of $250,000 bail, O’Keefe in lieu of $500,000 bail and Payton Mulryan in lieu of $1 million bail.
Tiffany Mulryan was released on personal recognizance, while Ternan was released April 20 on $20,000 bail, and court records show they’re each awaiting a May 22 arraignment. Swendt is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, while Harkness was released April 18 on $50,000 bail and both are awaiting a June 15 trial.
