Man suspected in Whatcom County controlled substance homicide from 2021
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday arrested a 31-year-old Blaine man on suspicion of multiple drug-related crimes, including controlled substance homicide from a May 2021 death.
Tanner Allen Larson was booked into Whatcom County Jail at 6:17 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, on suspicion of one count of controlled substance homicide, three counts of possession of a controlled substance, two counts of counterfeit substance violation and five counts of delivering a controlled substance.
The death of Aeschli Wilkinson, 30, of Blaine was reported May 7, 2021, to local police. Blaine Police requested assistance when the medical examiner’s toxicology report indicated fentanyl was in Wilkinson’s system, according to sheriff’s office spokesperson Deb Slater.
The investigation found that Wilkinson had contacted Larson about buying painkillers and that sales were made multiple times between April 28 and May 6, Slater wrote in a news release.
Sheriff’s interdiction deputies, with the assistance of the Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force, arrested Larson Wednesday in the 4300 block of Meridian Street in Bellingham. A search of Larson found cash, a zip lock bag with an unidentified powder, four empty zip lock bags, burnt foil with narcotic residue and a bag with about 100 blue M-30 pills that weighed 12.9 gross weight grams (fentanyl).
“Fentanyl in its clandestine form is a deadly drug,” said Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo. “The Sheriff’s Office will continue to prioritize the investigation of deaths resulting from the street sale of this drug as homicides. Potential users of this drug should be aware of its lethal nature and those that deal in the drug should know that if a death results, they will be charged with homicide.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 8:24 AM.
