Story and Photos by Scott Schaefer

Tuesday afternoon (Mar. 2nd) around 2pm, a potential domestic disturbance 9-1-1 call in Burien turned into the shooting death of a Pit Bull at an apartment near the intersection of 4th Ave SW and SW 155th.

According to a King County Sheriff’s officer on the scene, the Pit Bull escaped from its apartment when its owner, who was unrelated to the original disturbance call, heard some commotion. The dog then allegedly “charged” a cop, who shot it in self-defense. The officer (or possibly another officer) then had to “euthanize” the injured dog by shooting it again, possibly numerous times, according to witness accounts.

The dog’s body was covered in a yellow tarp when we arrived, as Animal Control officers and police continued to investigate the scene.

A neighbor who witnessed the attack told us that he felt the Pit Bull had endangered and scared other residents and children before.

UPDATE 3/3/10 Noon: We just received a response from Burien Police Chief Scott Kimerer, who said:

There is an ongoing investigation of this case so I will need to be somewhat brief in my response.

I can tell you the officer was not bitten.

Dog attacks happen occasionally and like any life/safety issue, the Officers are trained to respond to the level of danger using necessary force.

Some of the other questions may be answered in the course of the investigation.

- Chief K

Here are photos we took on the scene shortly after it happened (WARNING: one pic includes visible dog blood):

UPDATE Thursday 2/4/10: We just received word from Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Department that the driver of the smashed-up Kia (pictured, left) involved in Wednesday’s 3-car crash at the intersection of First Ave South and SW 112th has died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

He was a 49 year-old Burien man, and his identity has not yet been released by the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Click here to read our previous coverage, including photos shot at the scene.

The family of deceased Burien man Mark Ebinger (pictured, left), 25, who was stabbed to death outside Good Time Ernie’s last November, has increased the reward offered to $10,000 in hopes of generating tips that will lead to an arrest.

Mark and his brother Peter, 24, were attacked outside the Burien bar on the morning of November 12, 2009. Mark died from stab wounds at the scene. Peter was stabbed numerous times, but survived.

Detectives believe there were several witnesses to the attack, and these witnesses might have information that could solve the case.

The homicide occurred outside Good Time Ernie’s Pub,  located at 15747 Ambaum Blvd SW in Burien.

As we reported on Dec. 28, 2009 when we attended the family’s first press conference at the King County Sheriff’s office:

Peter recalled the attack, saying that a “few words were spoken to someone who was with us in the bar, and I told Mark we should leave…and as we left a group of guys came out the other door, a bottle was thrown at us, then they came at us with knives.”

“I was just scared, and was trying to get away,” Peter said. He also added that Mark was “kind of far away” from him in the parking lot at the time of the attack.

The Ebinger Family at the Dec. 28th press conference.

Peter also added that “someone else had words with one of the guys in the other group…” and he had no idea what was said, but is certain that the attacker(s) were in that group.

Once outside, “one guy came up in my face and tried to take a swing at me and another guy hit me from behind,” Peter continued. “I got stabbed probably six or seven times in the back…”

Peter said he’s “not planning on going back” to Goodtime Ernie’s anytime soon, “and no one I know is going back…”

Despite numerous rumors, there is no definite word on whether the attackers are part of a gang.

Mark Ebinger's brother Peter was also stabbed, but survived.

“We’re all very upset and angry, and well, you can imagine…”

Mark worked at a printing press and mostly did manual labor.

Regarding Mark’s death, Peter said: “It happened real fast and he didn’t feel much pain…”

The investigation is still ongoing.

“We know that someone out there knows something, saw something, or has heard something,” said Jim Laing. “…and that information might seem insignificant to them but it could be the information that cracks this case and we’re appealing to anyone who has any information to come forward.”

Laing continued: “No homicide case is ever closed until it’s closed, and this will remain open until it’s solved.”

On our original Nov. 12th report, there are now 105 Comments, which make for some very interesting reading – see it here – many comments are in scolding tones to those who were there that night but have refused to come forward to identify the suspect(s). Perhaps this higher reward will change that?

Crimestoppers is also offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information on the case.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours), or 9-1-1.

This week marks the fourth anniversary of the death of Nicole Pietz, who was last seen at her Lynnwood home by her husband on January 27, 2006.

The body of Pietz, 32, was found strangled Feb. 6, 2006, in a wooded area near South 114th and Des Moines Memorial Drive in Burien (see map below).

Her car, a 2003 Jetta was found in the University District about two weeks later.

After four years, this case remains unsolved, according to Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Department.

The reward for information on the case that leads to an arrest or conviction is at $36,000. In addition, Gail Schneider, Nicole’s mother, has said the family will pay the legal costs for anyone who comes forward with information germane to the case, but wishes to use the services of an attorney.

The case is active and still under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit.

Here are some photos provided by the family of Nicole:

Pietz’ body was found in Burien in a wooded area near South 114th and Des Moines Memorial Drive:

View Larger Map

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hrs).

A memorial will be held Wednesday night, Jan. 27th at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub for Cherisse Luxa, 62, founder of Burien’s “Drinking Liberally” group and community activist, who passed away from stomach cancer in December (read our report here).

The memorial begins at 7pm on Jan. 27th, and attendees are invited to bring photos and/or stories to share about her.

Known as one of the area’s most spirited Democrats, Cherisse was a well-respected organizer who had a hand in many local causes, including the attempted 2007 save of Burien’s Lora Lake Apartments.

Also, if you know of a home for Cherisse’s much-loved cats Howard and Harris (who are four years old and prefer to be adopted together), please contact Liz Giba at 206-605-3824 as soon as possible.

Here’s a flier with more info:

Story & Photos by Scott Schaefer

On the busy 12400 block of Ambaum Blvd., a quiet, makeshift memorial stands as a tribute to Mikarah Nasabreo Sanders, the 15-year old girl who was shot and killed by her 16-year old boyfriend on New Year’s Eve, who later shot himself.

Sadly, Sanders died from her wounds and the male suspect is still being treated (and guarded) at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle (read our previous coverage here). King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg has said that the suspect will likely be charged as an adult with murder in connection with Sanders’ death.

The most recent reports we’ve heard are that the suspect was upset with something he read on Sanders’ MySpace page. Other reports say that the couple argued frequently.

Like most temporary memorials, this one’s got photos protected by plastic sleeves, melted candles and notes, as well as some odd and ironic items like a mysterious, open, black umbrella (we’re not sure of its significance – anyone know? UPDATE: Occam’s Razor called and told us that it was probably placed there to protect the shrine from rain), and an empty peach vodka bottle lying next to stuffed animals – all as a tribute to a life lost way too early.

Scott Schaefer stopped by Thursday morning (Jan. 7th) and shot this Photo Slideshow:

Click to View Scott Schaefer’s Photo Slideshow

On a personal note, we’re getting kinda tired of seeing these memorials all around the Burien area. Let’s get along peeps!

Story & Photos by Scott Schaefer

It must’ve been the absolute toughest Christmas ever for the Ebinger family of Burien, as they had to celebrate without their son Mark, 25, who was fatally stabbed outside Goodtime Ernie’s Nov. 12th.

On Monday (Dec. 28th), the family held a press conference at the King County Sheriff’s office in downtown Seattle, where they offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) in the fatal stabbing.

Acting Public Information Officer Jim Laing spoke, along with Mark’s brother Peter (who was also stabbed), 24, as his distraught parents, sister and girlfriend sat nearby, solemnly holding back tears; here’s the raw MP3 of the conference:

[display_podcast]

Peter recalled the attack, saying that a “few words were spoken to someone who was with us in the bar, and I told Mark we should leave…and as we left a group of guys came out the other door, a bottle was thrown at us, then they came at us with knives.”

“I was just scared, and was trying to get away,” Peter said. He also added that Mark was “kind of far away” from him in the parking lot at the time of the attack.

Peter also added that “someone else had words with one of the guys in the other group…” and he had no idea what was said, but is certain that the attacker(s) were in that group.

Once outside, “one guy came up in my face and tried to take a swing at me and another guy hit me from behind,” Peter continued. “I got stabbed probably six or seven times in the back…”

Peter said he’s “not planning on going back” to Goodtime Ernie’s anytime soon, “and no one I know is going back…”

Despite numerous rumors, there is no definite word on whether the attackers are part of a gang.

“We’re all very upset and angry, and well, you can imagine…”

Mark worked at a printing press and mostly did manual labor.

Regarding Mark’s death, Peter said: “It happened real fast and he didn’t feel much pain…”

The investigation is still ongoing.

“We know that someone out there knows something, saw something, or has heard something,” said Jim Laing. “…and that information might seem insignificant to them but it could be the information that cracks this case and we’re appealing to anyone who has any information to come forward.”

Laing continued: “No homicide case is ever closed until it’s closed, and this will remain open until it’s solved.”

If anyone has any information on this case, they should call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-274-6313.

$4,000 of the reward money comes from the Ebinger family, and $1,000 from Crimestoppers.

Here’s a video report on this case from KING-TV:

Read our previous coverage of this tragic incident here.

The King County Sheriff’s Department alerts us that Peter K. Ebinger, 24, the brother of Mark K. Ebinger, 25, who was the victim of a fatal stabbing at Burien’s Goodtime Ernie’s last month, will hold a press conference on Monday, Dec. 28th.

Peter, 24, will offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed his brother, who was 25.

We’ll have a Reporter and Photographer on the scene Monday and will give a full report next week.

Here’s the text from an email we received from Sgt. Jim Laing:

On 11/12/09 at approx. 1.45 AM a large group attacked two brothers outside Good Time Ernies in Burien. Both brothers were stabbed several times and one died at the scene.

The deceased was identified as Mark K. Ebinger. His brother, Peter K. Ebinger spent several days in hospital but will recover from his wounds.

Detectives believe there are witnesses who have not come forward and that these witnesses have information that would help the investigation.

On December 28, 2009 at 1.30pm Peter Ebinger will speak to the Press and offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed his brother.

The Press Event will be held in Sheriff Rahr’s office, King County Courthouse, 3rd and James, 1st floor.

A memorial for Luke T. Gullberg, the 26-year old Des Moines man who was killed on Oregon’s Mount Hood last week, will be this Sunday, Dec. 20th from 3pm to 6pm at Pacific Middle School, located at 22705 24th Avenue South in Des Moines.

Luke died on Saturday, Dec. 12th while climbing Mt. Hood with Anthony Vietti and Katie Nolan, who are still missing. His body was found on a glacier at 9,000 feet by searchers. Reports are that Luke may have fallen and experienced some trauma, then crawled a couple hundred yards before dying of hypothermia.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Memorial for Luke T. Gullberg

WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 20th from 3-6pm

WHERE: Pacific Middle School, located at 22705 24th Avenue South in Des Moines.

INFO/RSVP: Here are some links to various pages created in Luke’s honor:

• Facebook tribute page
• Facebook page on the Mermorial here where you can RSVP and/or leave comments
• Tribute page from fellow climber Richard Lutz
  

And here’s a video of a press conference held at Mt. Hood about the incident:

Sunday morning (Dec. 13th), Cherisse Luxa, 62, founder of Burien’s “Drinking Liberally” group and community activist, passed away from stomach cancer.

Known as one of the area’s most spirited Democrats, Cherisse was a well-respected organizer who had a hand in many local causes, including the attempted 2007 save of Burien’s Lora Lake Apartments.

Courtesy Daily Kos, where Cherisse’s friend cafecito wrote:

If you have ever attended Drinking Liberally, you almost certainly know of Cherisse’s incredible energy and her unstoppable drive to make our community a better place. From her decades as a King County Sheriff’s Deputy to her impressive track record as an activist an advocate, Cherisse made a huge difference, both for Burien and for the broader community.

Cherisse, like many of us, got religion with Howard Dean’s run.

Cherisse touched thousands of lives and was a role model for many of us. We will sorely miss her.

Here’s to a pioneering netroots activist, Cherisse Luxa. May she rest in peace. We’ll always be grateful for the work she did to make our state a better place to live.

Also, from Washblog comes this tribute from Noemie Maxwell:

I took this photo at a July 2007 Service of Lamentation held by clergy to protest the planned destruction of the Lora Lake moderate-income apartments in Burien.  Cherisse was instrumental in organizing the community to try to save this housing.  From left to right in this photo: Donald Bennett, Cherisee Luxa, Representative Tina Orwall from Washington’s 33rd Legislative District, Sarajane Siegfriedt.

Cherisse had incredible energy, intelligence and caring.  In the last in-depth email I exchanged with her, she told me she was working on her dissertation in the doctoral program on Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. She was a retired sheriff’s deputy — as she put it, “a retired cop”, a victims’ rights advocate, and, among many other activities, worked in other countries to help identify the bodies of people who had died as victims of war crimes.  She co-founded Burien’s Drinking Liberally.

Cherisse had a keen and integrative intelligence — noticing and remembering details that few people see (she rescued me several times from errors in my stories) — but also thinking in a systems-oriented way — understanding the larger patterns, the connecting dynamics.  She was truly a pleasure to talk with as well as generous with her time and thoughts and help for others.  I feel truly sad that she has passed away.

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98956852@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

The Seattle Times is reporting that the body of a climber found Saturday (Dec. 12th) on Oregon’s Mount Hood was identified as 26-year-old Luke T. Gullberg of neighboring Des Moines.

Gulberg’s body was found around 10am on the Reid Glacier, at about the 9,000-foot level.

Reports are that weather conditions on the mountain are expected to improve, and will hopefully allow rescue personnel greater searching capabilities on Sunday to search for two other missing climbers.

“All three of these climbers were well equipped and experienced,” said Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Detective Jim Strovink.

According to the Times:

Two other climbers were still missing after a daylong search.

The remaining climbers still missing were identified as 24-year-old Anthony Vietti of Longview, Wash., and 29-year-old Katti Nolan of Portland.

Strovink said all three climbers were experienced and well-equipped.

A search is set to resume shortly after dawn on Sunday for Vietti and Nolan. The trio left Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood about 1 a.m. Friday and were reported missing when they failed to return Friday afternoon.

Our own research reveals a Des Moines-based Luke Gullberg on MySpace (“climb4life”) as well as Facebook:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Virginia Pearce, 96, passed away last week. She owned Burien Books and ran it for 50 years, and was a lifelong resident of Three Tree Point.]

Story and Photos by Jim Branson

Virginia always liked to see my dogs when I visited her at Burien Books or when I helped her around her home on Three Tree Point.

One day, when I brought my dogs over, she said, “I wish I had a picture of them just like that.”

She was amazed when I pulled out my cell phone and snapped the picture. Later that day, I had one printed at Bartell’s and brought the print to her store. Although she greatly enjoyed the picture, she was incredulous of technology and avoided it if at all possible. On her kitchen table, an old radio was her link to the outside world. She kept her rotary phone until it would no longer work with her supplier’s phone system. She never owned a TV.

At the bookstore, she didn’t have a cash register or a calculator, let alone any sort of computer. She would total up your order on a scrap of paper, using a pencil, never a pen. The cash drawer is a work of art (see photo), made of wood, with dished-out coin compartments worn smooth by 50 years of use. The funny old microfiche machine was as high-tech as she would ever get, and when they stopped making new films for it, a couple years back, she did the best she could ordering books by phone.

When I worked at her home, I sometimes borrowed a wonderful old screwdriver with a wooden handle, still in perfect condition and perfectly useful. The screwdriver was probably older than me. Virginia never bought anything new. She loved her garden, as did I. From the street, you can’t even tell there is a house because the rhododendrons and snowberry have grown so thick. The path to her house was overgrown, creating a tunnel Virginia’s height, so I had to bend in half to walk up and down her path, which was just as it should be. Visiting her house or the bookstore seemed like a trip back in time. I’m not sure if the wisteria on her deck was holding the house up or pulling it down. I would ask for explicit instructions on how to prune her holly bushes because I knew she had a particular idea of how they should turn out. I accidentally broke a clematis vine she had trained to climb her Douglas-fir, but I quickly patched it up with some scotch tape, and the next year it was as healthy as ever, the wound no longer visible.

I asked her, just last year, if she would like a hand rail for the uneven brick steps leading up to her front door.

“Oh no. No, no, no,” she said.

The idea of using materials to build a handrail seemed way too extravagant to her. She had an Oregon grape bush that she held onto on the way up the stairs, and a cedar tree to steady herself on the way down the stairs, at 96 years old.

I would clean out her gutters, the only wooden gutters I have ever seen, and then oil them, trying to get one more year of use out of them.

When I would clean her windows on the north side of the house, she would give me a squeegee, a cup of water, and one paper towel. I would have approached the job with a bucket of hot water and an entire roll of paper towels, but she was right. I could get the job done with the supplies she gave me.

She had a yellow rose bush at the corner of her house, and she liked to take roses cut from it to have in her house or at the bookstore. She often took cuttings from her garden and arranged them artfully at the bookstore.

I didn’t know Virginia as well as some other people did, but in my impression of her, I would have to say that “Frugal” doesn’t exactly capture her character. It’s true that she didn’t like to spend money, and she didn’t even like for me to spend money. If I came to the bookstore looking to purchase a particular book, before she would order it for me, she would ask, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather check it out from the library?” Her parsimony was not motivated by greed at all. I have zero knowledge of her finances, or how she magically kept that bookstore open for 50 years when Amazon and Barnes & Noble put most other bookstores out of business, but I feel certain that her thriftiness was not based on the desire for the accumulation of wealth.

Rather, she felt that she and others could enjoy a simple thing, like a yellow rose, a finely crafted old screwdriver, a crooked little old house, or a bookstore with no computers.

Who needs a TV when you can get lost in a book? She savored the simple things, like a visit from my dogs.

I certainly cherished my visits with Virginia, and I will miss her.

Here’s a Photo Slideshow in Virginia’s honor:

Click to View Jim Branson’s Photo Slideshow

Jim also adds:

“Her memorial service is Saturday at 11:00 at Parker’s on 146th, I have been told.”

Tonight (Friday Nov. 20th) BTB Advertiser Bison Creek Pizza & Pub will be holding a benefit memorial to honor Mark (last name intentionally omitted), the 25-year old victim of the stabbing fatality outside Goodtime Ernie’s in Burien last Thursday (read our coverage here).

Ian from local band The Cauze will be playing an acoustic (intimate) set.

Here are the details:

• The event will start at 10pm.
• 21+ only please.
• They’ll be collecting donations to help the victims family.
• The funeral will be next Wednesday (Nov. 25th); Bison Creek will be closed during the service, but will re-open at 5pm.
• Mark was an employee of Bison Creek a few years ago, and all of their employees will be attending this service.

The Washington State Patrol is looking for witnesses to Wednesday morning’s fatal multiple car accident on I-5 in the southbound lanes of I-5 in Tukwila near SR-518.

The fatality was a 43-year old Seattleite who was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser without a seatbelt. A passenger in a Toyota Camry was treated for minor injuries at the scene, while others involved were not injured.

Most of southbound I-5 was closed during the morning rush hour while police and detectives investigated the scene.

If you saw the accident, you are urged to call 425-401-7719 as soon as possible.

On Tuesday (Nov. 17th), Leemah Carneh, the man accused of murdering an elderly couple and two teens at a Des Moines home in 2001, pleaded guilty to murder.

Carneh, 28, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated first-degree murder with a firearm for the brutal killings. These charges carry a mandatory life sentence, which King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson imposed following the plea.

Carneh, who was 19 at the time, is accused of killing Richard and Jane Larson, 63 and 64, their grandson Taelor Marks, 17, and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Josie Peterson, in the Larsons’ home in March 2001. Peterson was a cheerleader at Evergreen High School when she was killed.

As we reported previously, Judge Robinson, following a competency hearing that took place over several weeks, ruled in August that Carneh was mentally fit to stand trial. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic not long after his arrest.

Carneh was arraigned on the four counts of aggravated first-degree murder immediately following Robinson’s ruling.

According to police investigators, Carneh allegedly gunned down Marks’ grandparents, hid their bodies, then waited inside the house for Peterson and Marks and brutally beat them in an ambush when they came home. King County prosecutors allege that Carneh was obsessed with Peterson, who didn’t know him.

He was arrested at his home two days after the killings. When police searched Carneh’s house after the killings they found a photo of Peterson, a ring belonging to Marks, luggage with the Larson’s name on it, a stereo from Marks’ car, a handgun – and bloody clothes.

Despite this evidence, criminal proceedings were delayed while Carneh was treated for his mental condition at Western State Hospital. On several occasions, he was returned to the King County Jail only to be sent back to the hospital when it was determined he still was not mentally competent to participate in his defense.

After prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty, Carneh will now face life in prison without the possibility of parole. In late 2005, he received a civil commitment to Western State when another superior court judge ruled he still was not competent to stand trial but under state law no longer could be held on the criminal charges.

One year later, prosecutors were notified by officials at Western State that Carneh’s mental condition has improved to the point that he no longer needed constant supervision. They also said he was eligible to earn permission to leave the hospital grounds. At that point, prosecutors re-filed the murder charges and requested a new competency hearing for Carneh. But it took another two and a half years with a new treatment regime before he was finally found fit to stand trial.

Shortly before the original murder charges against Carneh were dismissed, Taelor’s mother Lorraine Marks said, “It’s unbelievable to me. He wrote the book on how to commit murder and get away with it…. I’m furious with the system.”

When the charges against Mr. Carneh were dismissed in 2005 and he was sent from the King County Jail back to the mental treatment facility, prosecutors said it was unlikely, even if he never went to trial for the murders, that he ever would ever be free again.

But late last year, prosecutors learned the defendant had made enough improvement to be unsupervised and perhaps even leave the grounds of the institution.

 At that point, they re-filed the charges of aggravated first-degree murder against him.

 Yet now, he again has been found mentally unfit. Western State staff believe additional treatment alternatives can help Mr. Carneh become competent so he finally can stand trial.

Sad scene outside Burien’s Goodtime Ernie’s this weekend, as a makeshift memorial has been built for the young man who was the victim of an early morning stabbing death last Thursday, Nov. 12th.

There is still no word from police on the suspect, and while the victim’s identity was revealed in Comments made on this website, we have chosen to withhold those until his name is officially released.

We’ll post updates as more information comes in, but for now, we encourage everyone to show respect for the victim’s family and friends, and to try and value life just a little bit more.

Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer stopped by not only to take these photos, but to pay his respects as well:

Click to View Scott Schaefer’s Photo Slideshow

Burien native and King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced Thursday (Nov. 12th) that Christopher John Monfort, 41, will face charges of aggravated first-degree murder charges for the killing of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton, along with three counts of attempted first-degree murder for allegedly trying to kill his partner, aiming a gun at police, as well as first-degree arson charges for trying to kill officers by firebombing police vehicles at a city maintenance yard.

Along with that litany of charges, it’s also probable that Satterberg will pursue the death penalty for Monfort, as aggravated first-degree murder of a police officer is punishable by one of two sentences in Washington — life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

As we previously reported, Monfort was shot last Friday (Nov. 6th) outside his Tukwila apartment after being approached by police about his car, which matched a vehicle seen near the scene of Brenton’s death on Halloween night.

After aiming a malfunctioning handgun at police, Monfort was shot on the scene and is still in custody at Harborview Medical Center. It was also revealed by his family today that he is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the shooting.

According to Seattle Police documents, Monfort’s apartment had a cache of weapons, including bomb-making materials. He is also believed to have “worked alone” in the fatal shooting of Officer Brenton, and has been called a “lone terrorist” in this case. Detectives have recovered DNA evidence from both the arson scene at the city maintenance facility and the scene of Officer Brenton’s murder directly tying him to both incidents.

Detectives also recovered a .223 caliber rifle from Monfort’s apartment, and a ballistics test identified it as the firearm used in Officer Brenton’s murder.

Also recovered from Monfort’s apartment was a considerable amount of bomb-making material and evidence that indicates that the type of explosive devices Monfort was in the process of making or had made were even more lethal than the ones used in the Oct. 22nd arson.

According to police, “he clearly was intending to inflict even more destruction in his next criminal attack.”

Further examination of the explosive devices used in the arson and of the devices found in his apartment indicate that Monfort was also intending to harm first responders to the scene, such as police and fire department personnel.

Monfort once attended Highline Community College in Des Moines, where he became involved in student government and was elected vice president of legislation.

The Oct. 23, 2003, edition of HCC’s student newspaper The Thunderword describes how Monfort ran for student senate and spoke at a candidates’ forum, where he was quoted as saying:

“Too often, too many of us walk around with our head in the clouds.”

According to the article, Monfort:

“…believes he is unique, because he is upset about our current state of government and actually wants to do something about it. … The student body has been cheated and lied to by the Bush Administration,” said Monfort. He plans on putting together a petition to bring our soldiers home.”

Monfort was also quoted as saying: “Our freedom is under attack.“

According to King County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart, a bar fight at closing time at Burien’s Goodtime Ernie’s Sports Bar & Grill Thursday morning (Nov. 12th) led to the stabbing death of one man, age 25, while his brother (24) was seriously injured.

The victim died at the scene, and the brother was taken to Harborview with stab wounds. He is expected to survive.

The incident occurred about 1:40am at Good Time Ernie’s, which is located at 15747 Ambaum Blvd in Burien, behind Wizards Casino.

According to Urquhart, a fight inside the bar involving several people spilled out into the parking lot where the stabbings occurred.

A Burien man, age 25, died at the scene, despite CPR efforts from Sheriff’s deputies (Burien Police) and then from fire personnel. A second stabbing victim, age 24, and also from Burien, was taken to Harborview.

The two victims, who are brothers, have not yet been identified.

Sheriff’s detectives interviewed bar patrons and witnesses, but no one was arrested.

What prompted the fight is unknown, and the suspect is still at large.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 9-1-1.

Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer was on the scene this morning around 8:45am, where he spoke with investigators and saw a silver Lincoln Aviator SUV get impounded; he also took these photos (EDITOR’S NOTE: slideshow has been altered & all bloodstain photos have been removed out of respect for the bereaved):

Click to View Scott Schaefer’s Photo Slideshow

RELATED:

• PHOTOS: Scenes From The Memorial Outside Goodtime Ernie’s

UPDATE Sat. 11/7/09: The Seattle Police Department released more information Saturday about Christopher J. Monfort, the suspect shot Friday in Tukwila after being approached about his car, a Datsun B-210 that matched a vehicle seen near the scene of Officer Timothy Brenton’s death on Halloween.

He was shot on the scene and is currently in serious condition and in custody at Harborview Medical Center.

According to the latest reports, Monfort’s apartment had a cache of weapons, including bomb-making materials. He is now believed to have “worked alone” in the fatal shooting of Officer Brenton, and is also a suspect in the Oct. 22 firebombing of seven Seattle police vehicles.

Monfort once attended Highline Community College in Des Moines.

Here’s the release:

On the afternoon of November 6^th , 2009, Seattle Police Homicide detectives received a tip about a Datsun 210 matching the description of a possible suspect vehicle used in the slaying of Officer Tim Brenton. Detectives responded to a parking lot in the 13700 block of 56^th Avenue South in Tukwila. While detectives were investigating the scene further an adult male suspect emerged and pointed a gun at them. Detectives fired on the suspect in self defense, striking him at least once. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. No detectives were injured.

The Tukwila Police Department is handling the crime scene investigation and the King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit is conducting the officer-involved shooting investigation.

SPD detectives obtained search warrants to further examine the crime scene. Evidence located inside the suspect’s apartment included improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a rifle, and various other items of evidence.  Detectives now believe that this individual is responsible for both the murder of Officer Brenton,  the attempted murder of Officer Sweeney, and the arson attack on October 22^nd at the Charles Street facility. Detectives are asking the Prosecutor’s Office for formal charges. The Datsun that detectives were looking for is registered to the suspect.  Our investigation into the murder of Officer Tim Brenton and attempted murder of Officer Britt Sweeney continues and we are still receiving and following up on tips.  We have received numerous tips from the public and we encourage everyone to continue to call us with any information they may have regarding this investigation.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call either 911 , or the tipline at (206) 233-5000.  Those wishing to remain annonymous are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a text to CRIMES (274637).  Your text message should include “TIP486″  to ensure proper routing.  Calls are taken 24 hours a day.

PREVIOUSLY: Friday afternoon (Nov. 6th), shortly after Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton’s memorial concluded, a suspect named Christopher J. Monfort was shot outside his apartment building in Tukwila, prompting a massive outpouring of police to the area.

Police were apparently serving a search warrant on Monfort, 41, when he pulled out a weapon. He was shot on the scene and is currently under custody at Harborview Medical Center.

Monfort apparently attended Highline Community College in Des Moines, where he ran for student office in 2003.

According to HCC’s “Thunderword” student newspaper dated Nov. 20, 2003 (PDF link to issue), Monfort’s platform was:

“Christopher Monfort said he’s running to make the student body more aware of the civil liberties lost under the Patriot Act and the current political administration (Bush).

Monfort said students should vote for him because he actually cares about the world and wants to make a positive change.”

Monfort also studied law enforcement issues at the University of Washington.

Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed as he sat in his patrol car with an officer-trainee after a traffic stop on Capitol Hill on Oct. 31. Thousands of officers from around the country attended a memorial Friday afternoon for him at KeyArena in Seattle.

Robin Hoof, longtime swim coach and teacher for the Highline School District, lost her battle against cancer and passed away on Oct. 22nd.

A Memorial Service is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 8th at 1pm at the Highline Performing Arts Center, located next to Highline High School in Burien.

In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence or the “Pay for Play” sports program in memory of Robin.

Her mother has asked that people wear purple to the service, since that was Robin’s favorite color.

Donations can be sent to:

Highline Schools Foundation
245 Southwest 152nd Street, Suite D.
Burien, WA 98166
206-248-5196

Robin Hoof was a teacher and swim coach with the Highline School District for 20 years. At Evergreen High School she taught French, and also served as swim coach for the boys and girls teams at Highline High School.

Previously, we reported on a fundraiser car wash held by Advertiser Vision Collision in early October.

There is also a Facebook page called “Hope For Robin,” set up in Robin’s honor.

Story & Photos by Scott Schaefer

Welcome to Dia de las Muertes de Burien – The B-Town Blog’s “Day of the Dead” tribute to Burien’s earliest, and sadly, mostly forgotten settlers, who are buried in a place most residents don’t even know exists.

This is the story of the area’s oldest graveyard, a private, historic and rundown place on South 200th called Hillgrove Cemetery.

You won’t find Hillgrove on many maps, because, like its 360 residents, it’s no longer living. It’s private, it’s fenced off, yet once you look at the chain link barrier and barbed wire, it’s obvious that people find ways to get in to do whatever living people do in graveyards full of dead strangers.

We too found our way into Hillgrove recently (how could we not this time of year?), and despite forgetting to wear boots (our Chuck Taylors got soaked but oddly, we didn’t care) yet managing to be very careful and respectful, we took numerous photographs, which we built into a “Sound Slideshow” to a public domain song from 1910, the era when this site was in its heyday.

But before we present our photographic and audio tribute, we’d like to share our personal observations of Hillgrove:

It was a sad place, and not just because it was full of dead bodies – it’s in disrepair, with missing, crooked and broken tombstones, years of neglect and evidence of vandalism.

Historic, old graves with unique stone markers ranging from the earliest burial (at least that we saw) in 1890 to the most recent in 2005. Some tombstones have been restored, while many are clearly without any markings (several we discovered only by stepping into indentations in the grass).

Here’s some info on it courtesy Highline Historical Society Executive Director Cyndi Upthegrove:

Hillgrove Cemetery is owned by the Hillgrove Cemetery Association, comprised of the remaining families that own the property.  I don’t believe anyone famous is buried there, but a large number of local pioneer families are.  It is in disrepair because the people that remain of those families are quite elderly and cannot physically maintain it themselves, and the city of SeaTac and the Port won’t maintain it because it isn’t theirs. SeaTac has occasionally mowed for them and helped to build a retaining wall at the left entrance when the bank slumped one time and remains started spilling out.

From what I understand, there are about 360 souls there. They consist of veterans from both the North and the South from the Civil War, the Spanish American War, both WWI and WWII, Korea and the first Iraq War.  Their extended families are also buried there.

About 12 years ago a teacher at Highline HS teaching at-risk students taught a local history class and they really responded to it.  These were very bright students “at risk” of dropping out.  So she took them over to the cemetery to show it to them and they told her, “We know about this place. We come over here to drink.” Together with her, the Society acquired a grant to pay for her project. So she got them to clean it up as a class project.  They dug up buried headstones, mowed, learned about the people buried there, mapped it and  tended it for a couple of years.  After they had invested so much time and care into it, they wouldn’t let anyone else go in there and mess with it.

The most recent, from 2005.

Then they graduated and moved on, and she quit teaching that class and things kind of reverted to how they were.  We have retained some of the records and the Association has the rest.

Recently a paranormal investigation group contacted me to see if they could go in and look for ghosts.  I referred them to the Association and I think they did some kind of investigation there, but we weren’t given their results. Occasionally a Boy Scout will work there building benches, or mowing and grooming the place as an Eagle Scout project.

We did several bus tours of “The historic sites of Highline” a few years ago and Hillgrove was a stop on the tour.  People found it very interesting. I have always wished that we could engage the various cities and veterans groups to hold their Memorial and Veteran’s Day commemorations there rather than in schools and community centers, but other heads prevail.

I have always wished I had the funding for the Society to take care of the place for the community, but I don’t.

Walking around a decaying graveyard isn’t really creepy, or new to us – in college we used to visit one that was near our house, and this Reporter has always been fascinated with the dead and how the living treat them. Especially Hispanic culture and their “Day of the Dead” festivities, which involve spending the night in graveyards, setting up elaborate altars, offering food, wearing bizarre (and to me, really cool) costumes, and believing that, for one night on Nov. 2nd, their dearly departed dead relatives and loved ones come back and visit with them.

With those sentiments in mind, here’s our “SoundSlideshow” tribute to Hillgrove Cemetery and the historic people who are buried there, may they Rest In Peace:

Click to Play Scott Schaefer’s SoundSlideshow

Just when you thought that the fun with the skeletons and candy were done, today (Sunday, Nov. 1st) is the official start of Dia de las Muertes, an Hispanic celebration also known as “Day of the Dead.”

We here at The B-Town Blog love this celebration so much that we’ll be at Burien’s only known commemoration starting at 3:30pm, at the Interim Art Space on SW 151st just north of the new Town Square – it’s “Night of 1,000 Pumpkins”!

Sadly, this will be the final event held at B/ IAS before the dismantling begins and the space returns to an empty lot Dec. 31st – all the more reason to come up and celebrate one last time.

In case you’re not familiar with Dia de las Muertes, here’s some info from Wikipedia:

The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls’ Day) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints’ Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls’ Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

The fun begins today at 3:30pm and goes until dark:

• Bring a carved Pumpkin (or more) with a candle to fill the site with 1,000 lit pumpkins (you can also carve one there)
• Bring something for the community Dia de las Muertes altar (photos of the departed, trinkets, symbols of their lives, etc.)
• Walk through the makeshift cemetery
• Dress up in Day of the Dead costumes/makeup (Calaveras, or skeleton costumes are perfect)
• Pay tribute to your departed loved ones and gather with your neighbor over food, drink and dance
• Celebrate your community, your family and friends one final time at this innovative space
• Face Painting
• Flower Making
• Grand Pumpkin Games
• Sand Painting by artist Amaranta Sandys in the lobby of the Burien Library
• Traditional foods and vendors
• Community created Altars

PERFORMERS:

• 4:30 to 6:30: Trio Lucero del Norte on the B/ IAS Site (Roots Music / Regional Mexican / Folk); 
Trío Lucero del Norte play traditional/regional Mexican music from the Huasteca. Specialists in son huasteco and huapango, they are currently the only local group who play son huasteco with the complete ensemble: violin, jarana and quinta huapanguera. Son huasteco is the zapateado style of Mexican son from the Huasteca region. It formed the basis for many styles of huapango that became popular throughout Greater Mexico. The Huasteca region encompasses the plains region of six states: Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Veracruz and Tamaulipas.
In addition to sones huastecos and huapangos, Trío Lucero del Norte interpret sones de costumbre for Day of the Dead and Carnaval, sones and cumbias in Náhuatl and Huastecan regional stylings of polkas, canciones rancheras, boleros and cumbias. The three members: Jose Hernández (violin), Modesto Antonio Hernández (quinta huapanguera) and Kim Carter Muñoz (jarana), met when Kim posted an add in the El Paisano, a Mexican Carnicaría/Grocery in White Center.
Kim traveled to Mexico for several years to study son huasteco and sones de costumbre for her graduate studies in Ethnomusicology. After playing with well-known son huasteco musicians in Mexico, including Los Cantores de Pánuco, Soraima y Sus Huastecos, Trio Chicóntepec, Los Caporales de Pánuco and others, she wanted to form her own trío in Seattle.
• 5:30 to 6:30: Los Flacos At the Burien Library; Join with Los Flacos for a musical celebration of El Día de los Muertos. This Latino music group performs a blend of the traditional sounds of Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. Using a variety of instruments, some indigenous to the Americas and others of European and African origin, they create their own renditions of the songs of Latin America. Gather together with friends at the Burien Library to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have died. For More info on Los Flacos.
• 6:30 to 7:30: Pyrosutra on the B/ IAS Site; Pyrosutra is a fire dance collective based out of Seattle, Washington. We combine choreographed bellydance, breakdance and stilt walking with a wide range of professional fire performance techniques and innovative tools.
• 7:30 to 9:30: La Banda Gozona on the B/ IAS Site

Tapetes de Arena or Sand paintings
These “murals” are typically made of sand, sawdust, seeds, flower petals, and pigments. Traditionally, a tapete is made in the home when there is a death in the family. After a period of mourning, the tapete is swept up and entombed with the body of the deceased. Tapetes are also created all over Oaxaca for the Días de los Muertos celebration, and judged along with the ofrendas in the Concursos de Altares de Muertos.

Amaranta Sandys is been collaborating in the making of sandpaintings with Latino artists in Seattle for the last 10 years @ SAM and Tacoma Art Musuem.

We think that if you dig Tim Burton or Danny Elfman, or love Hispanic culture (or even just good ol’ fashioned dead people), you’re sure to enjoy this event (and we can assure you, we’ll be there…).

All pumpkins will be composted through a gift from King County Solid Waste.

by Ralph Nichols

“The heart and soul of the North Highline area” is how Barbara Peters, who died from cancer on Sunday, Oct. 25, is being remembered by friends and colleagues.

Not only was she a wife, mother, grandmother and friend, Barbara was a Commissioner of the North Highline Fire District, a 15-year volunteer with the King County Sheriff’s Office, a long-time member of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, and a strong advocate for Burien’s annexation of the North Highline unincorporated area.

Survivors include her husband, William Peters, and three daughters, Valerie, Cynthia and Natalie.

A graveside service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday, November 2, at Riverton Crest Cemetery, 3400 S.140th St., in Tukwila. A reception will follow at Rainier Golf and Country Club, 11133 Des Moines Memorial Dr. South.

Since her passing, tributes to Barbara have come from her friends and colleagues in the North Highline/Burien area.

Former Highline Fire Department Chief Russ Pritchard, who is also a past president of the North Highline Council, recalled that during his first term as president he asked Barbara to submit an application to fill a vacancy on the council.

“She kept saying ‘no, no, no,’ then agreed to fill it only for the remainder of the term.” But she remained on the council and “was my vice president all three times I was president,” Pritchard said. “Everyone looked to her for leadership. I looked to her for leadership. When I was president, I would say to her, ‘You’re the president, I just run the meetings.’”

He described her as “a force on that council. She took on projects that no one else wanted to do, and she got things done.”

At Fire District 11, “She was a very cool-headed commissioner,” Pritchard continued. “She thought out every issue that came up. When I was chief, she was the first commissioner to attend our staff meetings. She tried to talk to every firefighter to get their views before voting.”

After King County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Cox was killed in the line of duty three years ago, Barbara “was very much a force behind a lot of what was done there after his death to honor him,” he noted. Later, she was instrumental in getting a White Center park reclaimed, upgraded and renamed Steve Cox Park.

Pritchard said that Barbara, Steve, Judy Duff, also a former Highline Council president, and he “spent a lot of time together working on issues and became good friends. Two to three Sundays a month we would meet at her house and she would fix dinner for us.

“We became good friends and called ourselves the Four Musketeers. Now I’m the only one left. I know that in heaven, Barbara, Judy and Steve are now together on some council up there.”

Burien Police Sgt. Henry McLauchlan said Barbara, who ran the Sheriff’s Office storefront station and was a Block Watch leader, “was one of the leaders of the pack.

“We called her the major of the Boulevard Park storefront, but she was much more than a major. She was the general down there,” McLauchlan said. “She was just an incredible human being who was always there for the officers, always the first to raise her hand to volunteer.”

Burien Planning Commission member Jim Clingan said he got to know Barbara about three years ago when she was involved in keeping the Evergreen Pool open.

“She was an energetic, hard-charging individual who put a lot of energy into the things she did,” Clingan said. “She had strong opinions and whether you agreed or disagreed, you got a fair hearing and you walked away knowing you got a fair hearing.

Barbara “was just a good lady, and it’s a sad, sad loss,” he added. “I’m thankful to her family – to her husband and daughters – for sharing her with the community.”

Mike Martin, who became Burien’s city manager in November 2006, said Barbara “took me under her wing almost immediately. She was the first to take me on a tour of North Highline.

“She was a very good friend to us, the city of Burien. She worked tirelessly for annexation to Burien and her efforts were very critical to the success of annexation.”

Martin added, “Barbara was the heart and soul of the North Highline area.”

Here’s her official obituary:

Barbara Jean PETERS Passed away from cancer at home surrounded by her family on October 25th, 2009. Barbara was born in Seattle, Washington on April 1, 1937 to Henry and Florence Colella and grew up with her younger sister, Janice. When she was eleven years old, Barbara started working at Pike Place Market to help her grandparents, Emilio and Angelina Galliano, sell their produce. Barbara graduated from Cleveland High School in 1955 and worked for Western Electric Phone Company until she married William Peters on November 22, 1957. Barbara stayed home to care for their three daughters and she was always involved in the girls’ school and church activities. She was known as an excellent cook, organizer and adviser. Once the girls were grown, Barbara became involved in community activities: volunteering with the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle, a15 year volunteer with the King County Sheriff’s Department, serving on the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, and serving as a Fire Commissioner for the North Highline Fire District. Without a doubt though, Barb was most proud of her two grandchildren and she cherished the time she spent with both of them.

She is survived by her husband of nearly 52 years, Bill; her sister Janice; daughter Valerie (Jim) and granddaughter Victoria; daughter Cynthia; daughter Natalie (Jack) and grandson Jack. Everyone who knew Barbara was touched by her generosity, determination and her ability to speak her mind and get things done. Her dedication to children was endless and her accomplishments are too numerous to list and too far reaching to know. Barbara will be greatly missed by her family, friends, neighbors and the community she tirelessly supported. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff at Virginia Mason and everyone at Highline Home Care Services and Hospice. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in Barbara’s name to: North Highline Fire District Aid Car Fund, 1243 Southwest 112th Street, Seattle, WA 98146. In her memory, Barbara asked to please spend time with a child that is close to you. That time spent and your love for that child will be with Barbara forever.

A graveside service will be held at 1:30 PM on Monday, November 2nd at Riverton Crest Cemetery, 3400 S.140th, Tukwila 98168 with a reception following at Rainier Golf and Country Club, 11133 Des Moines Memorial Dr. S., Seattle 98168.

Sad news today from King County Miller/Walker Creek Basin Steward Dennis Clark – remember the two beavers who made their home (and subsequent dam) in a pond near Des Moines Memorial Drive in Burien?

They were euthanized last week.

Previously, we asked Readers what the city should do in regards to the creatures, and the results were:

• 65% voted “Leave them alone, and just deal with the consequences”
• 33% said “Re-locate them safely in the wild somewhere else“
• 2% said “Just kill the dam things before they flood downtown!”

So much for our new campaign to hire a “Beaver Whisperer” to psychically tell them to leave. Oh well.

Here’s an email we received from Dennis on Wednesday (Oct. 21st):

Scott,

I’m sorry to report that last week the beavers were euthanized.

We relied on the expertise of the wildlife biologists at the US Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services Branch to make a determination about whether to relocate or euthanize the animals.  Their staff were very concerned about the transmission of disease (both from our animals to other animals and vice versa) and I suspect that was what led to euthanizing the beavers.  Their trained staff carried out the removal on behalf of the City.

One of Burien's two beavers that was euthanized last week.

As I mentioned to you before, the key problem was that keeping the beavers would raise the average water level in the wetland as they built up their dams and/or blocked the culverts under Des Moines Memorial Drive.  Beaver behavior (not unlike that of the other dam-builders, we humans) is to expand their territory.  If they were allowed to do this, there would be little room for the wetland to hold more water before it began to flood the septic drain field and driveways of one or more neighbors.  An even higher water level would threaten both homes and the integrity of Des Moines Memorial Drive itself.

This last Saturday, October 17, provided a dramatic example of how the wetland responds to rain.  From 8 a.m. to Noon — a mere four hour period — I observed the wetland water level increase by over one foot! Because the beavers had been removed and the water level lowered the previous day, the wetland was able to handle this rise in the water level, which still came just to the level of the nearest neighbor’s driveway.

Fluctuation of the level of the wetland IS a good thing because that is a sign that the wetland is storing water during storms.  If the wetland didn’t exist (and the City should be recognized for conserving it through purchase back in 2005) or if there were larger culverts under Des Moines Memorial Drive, the water would otherwise rush downstream, potentially flooding private and public property in Burien and Normandy Park and damaging stream ecology with higher flows (scouring spawning gravel, causing erosion, blowing fish and leaf debris downstream).

I was excited when the beavers showed up this spring because the healthiest streams do include beaver in their ecosystems.  I researched whether there were techniques we could apply that would allow us to keep the beavers as neighbors without flooding the human neighbors or undermining Des Moines Memorial Drive.  I observed their interaction with the wetland and talked with the neighbors to learn from them.

And I had hours to think on all of this while chest-deep in water each time I cleared out the culverts the beavers had blocked!  By the end of the summer, both I and City staff reluctantly concluded that there was not room for beavers in this urbanized stream.

It was a sad outcome for me personally because I came to respect the energy and dam-building skill of these remarkable rodents in addition to appreciating their ecological value.  However, I was also reminded each time I had to unplug the culverts or adjust the height of their dams that there’s a reasons we term beavers WILDLIFE.  They have their own needs and aren’t amenable to being “managed.”  Unfortunately, we could not accommodate their needs in this situation.

- Dennis

So…what do YOU think of the fact that these two dams beavers are now sleepin’ wit’ da fishes?

Please take our poll below, and/or leave a Comment…

Allen Bilderback, owner of Platinum Plumbing and husband/father to seven, passed away in early June. As the owner of Platinum Plumbing he was the sole provider for his family, and many people in the Burien community have come together to help support them in their time of loss, including a special fundraiser auction dinner this Friday night (Oct. 2nd) at Glen Acres Golf Course.

The Bilderback family is fighting to get control of their business back, and that’s the main reason for this fundraiser, which is being sponsored by Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub, which has sponsored many fundraisers for worthy causes, including for the family of slain King County Deputy Steve Cox and the displaced survivors of the Tara and Jenny Marie apartment fire in Burien.

But, says co-owner Mick Purdy, this fundraising dinner “may be one of the most worthwhile events we’ve done.”

“The effort beging put in (for the fundraiser) by a lot of community members and friends is remarkbable,” he continued. “If the family gets their business back, they have the means to make it. But the need the community to help them get over the hump.”

“The family is fighting to get the business back. But it is pretty challenging since they are pretty financially strapped.”

Here are the details:

WHAT: Fundraiser Auction dinner party for the Bilderback family

WHEN: Friday night, Oct. 2nd from 7pm to midnight

WHERE: Glen Acres Golf Course, located at 1000 South 112th Street

INFO: A night to remember! Together, we can show support for a wonderful family. As the Bilderback Family grieves the loss of their father and husband, Allen Bilderback, we can make this difficult time a easier by participating in this fundraising dinner. We have a great dinner and fun evening planned with music, raffle, and auction. Reserve a table today!

Please confirm & select your dinner option by Wednesday, Sept. 30th.

Incredibly generous donations from:

• Sounders FC
• Royal Argosy Cruises
• Osteria de Primo Italian Restaurant
• Starbucks
• Local artists & businesses
• Seattle Painting & Decorating ($5,000 value)
• And many more!

TICKETS: $50.00 per person; Pick up tickets at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub: 435 SW 152nd in downtown Burien. If you can’t make it, but would still like to donate, go to the Sterling Savings Bank in Burien and donate in his name.

For more information, contact Trish Robles at hagertyrobles@yahoo.com or Mick Purdy at belfast81@comcast.net.

Here’s Allen’s obit:

Allen James Bilderback Jr.
Allen James BILDERBACK, Jr Age 35 died on Monday, June 8th, 2009 in SeaTac, WA. Allen is survived by his wife of 14 years, Sarah; six daughters and one son; father and step-mother, A.J. and Audrey Bilderback; grandmother, Mimi Fritz; brothers, Guy and Chet; step-sister, Katy and several nieces and nephews. Allen was a loving husband and father. He worked extremely hard at everything he set out to do in life and was a successful business owner. He enjoyed basketball with the guys and making plans for the future. Allen always had so much ambition and drive that there was never a doubt he would accomplish so much in life. He will be missed very much by so many who loved him. Forever and always in our hearts he will be. There will be a private family gathering and a public memorial at Bonney-Watson Washington Memorial Park in Seatac, WA at a later date. In lieu of flowers, all donations to the family can be made at Sterling Savings Bank in Burien, WA.

According to the King County Sheriff’s Department, a fiery car crash early Wednesday morning (Sept. 23rd) claimed the lives of three people in SeaTac when the car they were in ran off the road, slammed into a building and burst into flames.

The deadly accident occurred around 3:30am, along 8th Ave South by South 192nd Street near Sea-Tac Airport (see map below), according to Sgt. John Urquhart. The three victims were the only occupants in the car, and likely won’t be identified for another day or two.

According to Urquhart, speed was a factor in the fatal crash.

The car was apparently driving south at high speeds on 8th Ave South near South 192nd when it crossed the center line, hit a support cable next to a utility pole, careened through some brush, struck a tree and then a building, where it caught fire and burned, killing the occupants inside, Urquhart said.

Urquhart added that there was no evidence yet that the crash was the result of street racing, which has been a problem in the area recently.

Here’s a photo taken by Janet Grella Wednesday afternoon of flowers placed where the accident occurred:

View Larger Map

After more than eight years, Leemah Carneh appears headed for trial on four counts of aggravated first-degree murder in one of the most brutal crimes ever in Des Moines.

Carneh, who was 19 at the time, is accused of killing Richard and Jane Larson, 63 and 64, their grandson Taelor Marks, 17, and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Josie Peterson, in the Larsons’ home in March 2001. Peterson was a cheerleader at Evergreen High School when she was killed.

King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson, following a competency hearing that took place over several weeks, ruled that Carneh is mentally fit to stand trial. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic not long after his arrest.

Carneh was arraigned on the four counts of aggravated first-degree murder immediately following Robinson’s ruling.

According to police investigators, Carneh allegedly gunned down Marks’ grandparents, hid their bodies, then waited inside the house for Peterson and Marks and brutally beat them in an ambush when they came home. King County prosecutors allege that Carneh was obsessed with Peterson, who didn’t know him.

He was arrested at his home two days after the killings. When police searched Carneh’s house after the killings they found a photo of Peterson, a ring belonging to Marks, luggage with the Larson’s name on it, a stereo from Marks’ car, a handgun – and bloody clothes.

Despite this evidence, criminal proceedings were delayed while Carneh was treated for his mental condition at Western State Hospital. On several occasions, he was returned to the King County Jail only to be sent back to the hospital when it was determined he still was not mentally competent to participate in his defense.

If convicted, Carneh will face life in prison without the possibility of parole. King County prosecutors decided earlier not to seek the death penalty.

In late 2005, he received a civil commitment to Western State when another superior court judge ruled he still was not competent to stand trial but under state law no longer could be held on the criminal charges.

One year later, prosecutors were notified by officials at Western State that Carneh’s mental condition has improved to the point that he no longer needed constant supervision. They also said he was eligible to earn permission to leave the hospital grounds. At that point, prosecutors re-filed the murder charges and requested a new competency hearing for Carneh. But it took another two and a half years with a new treatment regime before he was finally found fit to stand trial.

No date for his trial has been set. 

Shortly before the original murder charges against Carneh were dismissed, Taelor’s mother Lorraine Marks said, “It’s unbelievable to me. He wrote the book on how to commit murder and get away with it…. I’m furious with the system.”

When the charges against Mr. Carneh were dismissed in 2005 and he was sent from the King County Jail back to the mental treatment facility, prosecutors said it was unlikely, even if he never went to trial for the murders, that he ever would be free again.

But late last year, prosecutors learned the defendant had made enough improvement to be unsupervised and perhaps even leave the grounds of the institution.

 At that point, they re-filed the charges of aggravated first-degree murder against him.

 Yet now, he again has been found mentally unfit. Western State staff believe additional treatment alternatives can help Mr. Carneh become competent so he finally can stand trial.

And once again, his defense attorney is trying to block that move since previous attempts at treatment have failed.

Area native Tom Pfaeffle, who was tragically shot and killed in July, will be memorialized on the evening of Thursday, August 13th at The Moore Theater in Seattle.

Doors will open at 5pm, and everyone is welcome.

Pfaeffle, a 1979 graduate of Mt. Rainier High School, was an acclaimed 30-year veteran sound engineer who worked with bands like Nirvana, The Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Heart and many others.

According to a website set up as a tribute:

We’ll be celebrating the night in the only way Tom would’ve wanted. With great stories, music & friends

All proceeds from the evening will go to the Pfaeffle family. There will be no ticketing, we ask that you donate whatever you can.

We’d like to thank The Seattle Theater Group, Triamp Group and The Art Institute of Seattle for their generosity.

For those of you who are unable to attend, please feel free to use this site as a place to share memories, stories, songs and anything else you’d like to share in remembering Tom, his life and his work.

The site also gives this recap of Tom’s life:

On Friday, July 17th, a loving wife lost her husband, a family lost their father, students lost their teacher and friends lost a smiling face they could always count on. We all lost something that this world has far too few of… a generous, caring, sincere, heartfelt person who gave all he could to those who became a part of his life.

Tom was a great man to many people for many different reasons. We’ve put up this website to honor the memories we have of him and to come together to celebrate his life and contributions to our collective successes, creativity and happiness.

Anyone who knew Tom knew that the single most important part of his life was his family. A trust has been set up in their name to help provide some support. We ask that you give what you can.

Tom’s generosity knew no limits. This is our chance to show that not only was Tom a generous person but he knew how to surround himself with people of equal character and generosity.

We hope the trust not only provides the family with support now but will continue to provide for them in the future.

Here’s a poster with more info:

On Friday (July 24th), the King County Sheriff’s Department released the surveillance photo below of the car driven by suspects in the June 24th shooting that left an 18 year-old man dead in SeaTac:

The vehicle is thought to be a white BMW 5 series or 7 series with a sunroof.

The photo was taken by a nearby security camera just moments after the shooting.

The incident occurred around 11:30pm, and the victim was in the backseat of a car that was southbound on Military Road South. Four friends were with him. A second vehicle (a white BMW) began following them, but turned off at South 140th. As it did, several gunshots were fired and the man was hit.

The men drove straight to Highline Hospital and the victim collapsed in the entrance to the Emergency Room. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

The dead man is from California and was in the area visiting relatives.

If anyone recognizes the vehicle or has information on the shooting they are asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office immediately at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 9-1-1.

One year ago today (July 24, 2008) BTB Advertiser Airport/Burien Towing was changed forever when owner Mark Storer, 51 and his son Brian, 24, were killed when their floatplane crashed near Lake Nahwatzel, ten miles west of Shelton.

Mark founded and operated the towing business, and left behind his wife, Lynette, son Jared and daughter Teresa.

His son Brian was married, and left behind a wife and two small children.

Jared sent us this email Friday morning (7/24/09):

Mark Storer and his Model T Tow Truck.

At the Burien office our Airport Towing family is planning a day of remembrance for Mark and Brian. We are having lunch catered for them and leaving the days activities in the hands of long time Managers Colleen and Daryl.

My hope is that the Burien community remembers my dad for his hard work and dedication that he put into everything he was passionate about. He cared about his family, his church, towing, antique tow trucks, airplanes, and people. Mark loved children. He could not walk into the same room as a child without attempting to make them smile. It didn’t matter if he knew them or not. Whenever he saw his grandkids he would light up with joy and play with them for hours, even if he was at his desk and they were interrupting his work. He would make time. There are many things Mark may not be well known for because he did not brag about his accomplishments. He never announced that he would put $100 bills into the donation box at Burien Chevrolet when one of their employees was diagnosed with cancer. He never published that he faithfully gave more than 10% of his income to his church and other local charities. Mark paid back every loan he ever owed on. He enjoyed making a difference quietly and without praise.

Brian Storer

Brian was far from quiet. He was always making jokes and keeping the atmosphere light. His passions were his family, motorcycles, collectible firearms, music, and tow trucks. Brian met life’s challenges head on. He was the youngest of 3 kids and raising a family of his own with 2 sons. He bounced back from a motorcycle crash that broke his femur when he was hit by a drunk driver and his wife was 8 months pregnant with a 1 year old son at home. The now 3 and 2 year old boys miss their dad but continue to remember him through photos, videos, and stories that their mom and family shares with them.

Thanks for remembering them on this important day.

Jared

More from their website:

Mark worked hard every day to create good customer relations and to create a good work environment for his employees.

Brian Storer was one of those employees for most of his life. His playful attitude kept the atmosphere at the office fun and enjoyable.

Both men were an integral part of our business and lives and it has been a tremendous challenge to try and fill their shoes.

The tragic and unexpected loss of Mark & Brian sent a rift throughout the industry. Hundreds of professional tow truck operators knew them personally, as well as many local businesses who felt the pain, and several other friends and family members.

A large procession lead the memorial on 7/30/08.

Mark and Brian were very well connected throughout the industry and the community, which resulted in a Memorial Service of an estimated 800 people in attendance with less than 1 week of notice, several television news broadcasts, and many other articles written about the pair in the B-Town Blog and other publications.

Read more at Jared’s blog here, or learn more about Airport/Burien Towing here.

by Janet Grella

By now many of our Readers have heard about the death of Tom Pfaeffle, a noted sound engineer who was recently killed in Twisp, when he apparently put his hotel room key into the wrong door then was shot.

But what you may not know is that Tom was born and raised nearby in Des Moines. He continued to live in his family home there until he and his family needed more room for the kids and sound studio and moved to Black Diamond where he opened “The Tank Studios.” This was about five years ago.

We first first learned about the shooting death of this music industry sound man extraordinaire when Matt Pina and his wife stopped by our booth at the Farmers Market last week. Matt alerted us to the news, and was visibly shaken.

At that point we Googled Pfaeffle’s name, and there was no information yet about his death since it had happened just the night before. Now there’s numerous sites reporting his death and paying homage to him, remembering him as the great sound guy that he was. Pfaeffle, a 30-year veterean, worked as a sound engineer with these bands:

• Nirvana
• The Black Crowes
• Great White
• Heart
• Queensryche
• Scorpions
• UB40
• Aerosmith
• Alice Cooper
• Rodney Crowell
• B.B. King
• and “countless others”
  

But what mainstream media and the internet aren’t saying is that Tom Pfaeffle was born and raised in Des Moines.

His childhood friend Aaron DeAnda remembers him this way:

Tom and I first met in our neighborhood Delrose Manor in Des Moines near Highline Community College. He was a few years younger than me. We had such good times as kids. His dad is gone now, and his mother, Charlotte, lives in Arizona. Tom was an only child, so he considered all the neighborhood guys his brothers. We played a lot of football in the streets. Tom was in our band, “Session,” in high school. Tom played guitar and was the sound man. He wanted to do sound as long as I can remember. He was very focused. Of all of us he was the only one to make a living in music. He had a good ear for sound…a critical ear.

He was passionate about music and he reached out to everyone. He considered everyone ‘family’. We’d still get together for sushi or at 909 in Burien listening to live music.

Aaron is now a Burien resident and is in a band with fellow MRHS graduate Matt Pina. Their band, “Uncle Ernie’s,” recently performed at Mick Kelly’s and hope to be back there soon. Aaron plays drums while Matt plays bass.

Matt not only played in the band “Rolling Boulders” with him, he provided these exclusive photos of he and Tom in younger years (Tom’s in the striped shirt):

Matt and Tom were in the class of ‘79 at Mt. Rainier High School. We asked Matt to remember his friend and fellow Des Moines native.

I was very proud of Tom, he had a great ear and knew how to make the music sound great.

Like everyone, we fumbled as we learned our craft, but Tom persevered. He became successful and turned his dream into reality. In fact he’s the only person I know who ever turned their musical dreams into reality (more than a hobby).

One of my most vivid memories of Tom is about 12 years ago. He was engineering a recording for a few of us from Instant Karma that were getting re-aquainted. On a break when everyone had headed outside, Tom picked up an acoustic guitar and began strumming a favorite song of mine, Neil Young’s “The Needle and The Damage Done”. I was captivated and really enjoyed that moment. I can’t say why it was special, but it was. It was just a moment of purity. A short performance by the man who ran the board. He wasn’t really known for his guitar playing, but that moment was genuine and awesome.

Friends from Tom’s life, the music industry and others will celebrate his life at St. Philomena’s Church, located at 1790 South 222nd Street in Des Moines (206-878-8709) on Wed., July 29th at 11am.

by Mark Neuman

It was a year ago this morning (June 29th) that a fire tore through the Tara Apartments on SW 155th in Burien. The blaze, determined to be an arson by police, destroyed the Tara, jumped westward, and gutted the neighboring Jenny Marie Apartments.

More than two dozen people immediately found themselves homeless.

Three people died, including Lindy Kunimoto, 49, Ramon Cisneros Sanchez, 76,  and Ramon’s 8-year old grandson, Edgar Cisneros.

One year later, no one has been arrested or charged in the incident (read our story on the investigation here).

Burien residents and businesses immediately rallied for the survivors, raising thousands of dollars and donating food, clothing and supplies.

Mayor Joan McGilton said last week “There has never been a greater outpouring of care and support by the people of Burien for others in need.”

We recently checked in with a few of the survivors to see how they are doing.

“The fire is still on my mind,” said Sharon Howell, this past week. “I wondered why I was feeling so bad the last few days, and I guess my brain is just saying ‘Hey, it’s around that time (one year from the fire).’ Just talking about it gives me goose bumps.”

She and her roommate and friend John Miklosh escaped the fire, fleeing their unit in the Jenny Marie.

The two now share an apartment on 152nd near Highline High School, which they moved into mid-July of last year.

“We just love it here,” said Sharon, who works part time cleaning houses in the Issaquah area.

John still works full time as a superintendent in the international transport and container industry, and enjoys playing his new guitar.

“John met (country singer) Vince Gill in Wenatchee years ago before Vince got famous,” Sharon said, noting that John lost his guitar in the fire.

And Sharon and John still have their cat, Coco.

“We look at her and still see her scars. She really was hurt.”

Coco, scorched by the flames, was missing for the first four days following the fire.

“We were devastated. We thought we lost her,” Sharon said. “But some neighbors said they saw her going back and forth” to and from the ashes.

“Then she came back to us. John found her in the bathtub of our burned out apartment unit! We were so happy. She’s a rare cat.”

John Baggott lived with his wife, Jill, and son, David, in the Tara.

“Our dog, Missy, started barking and woke up Jill, who got me up and moving,” John said.

“She’s our hero,” said Jill of Missy, an Australian Cattle dog, also called a Blue Healer.

Tragically, their roommate, Lindy Kunimoto, 49, did not survive, despite the desperate vocal efforts of friends and neighbors to get him to climb out of his main floor bedroom window.

Lindy died at the scene.

The Baggott family now live together, along with Missy, not far from Sharon Howell and John Miklosh.

“David is working at a restaurant near the Seattle Center,” said John, now retired and a graduate of Highline High School.

A big day is right around the corner for John.

“This Friday (July 3) I turn 70,” he said. “If my mother had held off fifteen minutes I’d a been a firecracker!”

Moriah Marlin, was a 29-year old mother of a six-month old boy, Emerson, on June 29, 2008.

“I never, and I mean NEVER, get two days in a row off from work,” Moriah told the B-Town Blog last July at a fundraiser for the survivors.

Moriah was away camping with her friend, son and dog that fateful weekend.

By utter coincidence, Moriah’s employer, a Burien grocery store, happened to have given her June 28th and 29th off.

“We returned home Sunday morning to nothing,” she said. “Turns out there were neighbors from two buildings up the street that were breaking our windows trying to save us and we weren’t even there.”

Moriah now lives in a house in Des Moines with Emerson, now a year and a half old, and her dog, Keira.

Moriah is currently employed as a technical support representative for a computer services company.

“Sometimes things just happen that remind you of the fire,” said Moriah, who has recently met a new and special man in her life.

“He wanted to give me a ring to show his feelings for me,” she said. “But he couldn’t just go to my jewelry box to try and figure out my ring size. He had to ask me my size, because the jewelry box I used to have, and everything in it, was lost in the fire.”

Moriah broke into tears recalling little Edgar, the boy who died.

“He would come to my place every day and knock on my door to play with my dog when he was a puppy.

“People told me the flames were forty feet high in the sky that night. I don’t know how I would have escaped with the baby and dog. Somebody above was looking out for us.”

by Ralph Nichols

One year ago today, on June 29, 2008, not long after midnight, hell erupted in a very small place in Burien. At 12:42 a.m., a 911 dispatcher received the first alarm. Seconds later, someone inside the Tara Apartments, at SW 155th Street and 5th Ave SW, yelled “Fire!” The complex was burning, flames already engulfing a stairway. Within a minute, a second 911 call reported the fire.

Less than two minutes after the first call came in, Engine 28 of the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department rolled out the door of the fire station at SW 151st Street and 8th Ave SW, arriving at the Tara Apartments exactly five minutes after that alarm was received.

By the time the first firefighters got there, “it was already fairly involved,” Burien/Normandy Park Fire Marshall Bill Harm recalled last week. The complex was engulfed in flames, which quickly spread to the adjacent Jenny Marie Apartments and threatened nearby structures, forcing fire crews into a defensive strategy from the outset.

Despite the rapid response, 8-year-old Edgar Cisneros, his grandfather, Ramon Cisneros Sanchez, 76, and Lindy Kunimoto, 49 – whose bodies would be discovered later by investigators inside the charred Tara Apartments – were probably dead by the time Engine 28 arrived. Another 14 people required medical treatment, five of whom were hospitalized with serious burns.

This was Burien’s worst residential fire in nearly 20 years – and when King County Sheriff’s Office arson investigators determined that it was intentionally set, this became a case of murder.

One year later, the triple homicide and arson remains an unsolved mystery. But, King County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said last week, “This is not a cold case. It is not on the back shelf.” The case remains “under active investigation” by KCSO homicide detectives.

Urquhart said they have “at least one person of interest,” but could not comment further because the criminal investigation is open and ongoing. A man who had been heard shouting, “You can all burn in hell!” to a resident of the Tara Apartments a few days before the fire was interviewed by detectives during their initial investigation and released.

Arriving a minute after Engine 28 that deadly Sunday morning was a battalion command vehicle. One minute later, Ladder Company 29 pulled up. Engine 18 and Engine 19 and the first Medic One to respond were close behind. Over the next 20 minutes, multiple alarms summoned additional Burien firefighters and crews from the North Highline (Fire District 11), SeaTac, Tukwila, Port of Seattle, and Renton fire departments, South King Fire & Rescue (Des Moines/Federal Way), and Kent Fire & Life Safety.

“We had a very rapid response. You can’t get a much better response time, especially to a fire in the middle of the night,” Harm noted. “It was a chaotic scene … we did a good job.”

Despite their best efforts, the fire, which was burning out of control by the time the first firefighters arrived, destroyed the eight-unit Tara Apartments and heavily damaged the Jenny Marie Apartments.

Both buildings had smoke alarms but no sprinklers. Still, witnesses said later, they were shocked at how quickly the fire moved through the two adjacent complexes. Some 50 low-income residents were left homeless. The total loss, including personal property, was about $1.75 million.”

Agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) joined the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit and King County Fire Investigators in the investigation.

A $10,000 reward is still being offered for information leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible. Anyone with information about the arson can call the Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.

“This was a trying fire for all involved,” Harm recalled. “We got good assistance from the public afterwards.”

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• 3-Alarm Fire Kills Three, Leaves 50 Homeless
• Fire Victim Gets Surprise Gift Thanks To Local TV Station
• Burien Fire Victim Checks In With The B-Town Blog
• Fatal Apartment Arson Fire Was One Month Ago Today
• Fire Victims Donation Center Closed + Some Shout Outs
• Burien Fire Apartment Victims Suing Landlord
• Some Auction Items For Wed. Fundraiser At Mick Kelly’s
• Burien Fire Victim Fundraiser Coming July 16th
• How You Can Help Burien Fire Victims, Phase 1

The King County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in finding a white, 1990s-model 4-door BMW 5 Series car (see included reference photos of a similar vehicle) driven by the suspects in a shooting that left an 18 year-old man dead on Wednesday night.

As we previously reported, the incident occurred about 11:30pm on Wednesday, June 24th. The victim was in the back seat of a car that was southbound on Military Road South. Four friends were with him in the car. A second vehicle began following the victim’s car but turned off at South 140th. As it did, several rounds were fired and the man was hit.

The men drove straight to Highline Medical Center in Burien, and the victim collapsed in the entrance to the Emergency Room. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

The dead man is believed to be from California and was in the area visiting relatives.

If anyone recognizes the vehicle or has information on the shooting they are asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 911.

According to the King County Sheriff’s Department, an 18 year-old man was shot in SeaTac last night around 11:30pm, and subsequently died at Burien’s Highline Medical Center.

The victim was riding in the back seat of a car that was southbound on Military Road South. Four friends were with him in the car. A second vehicle began following the victim’s car but turned off at South 140th; as it did, several rounds were fired and the male victim was hit.

The men drove straight to Highline Medical Center and the man collapsed in the entrance to the Emergency Room. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

The dead man is believed to be from California and was in the area visiting relatives.

All the people in the victim’s car were male and in their late teens or early 20s.

There is no description of the suspect vehicle, and no apparent motive for the shooting.

One year ago Wednesday (May 6th), Ben Laumea, a father of six, passed away from injuries he suffered after being shot in the head with an AK-47 at the then-MVP Sports Bar in Burien.

A BTB Reader emailed us, asking why flowers had been placed on the doorstep of the establishment, now called Twigg’s, so we went over and took these photos:

As you can see in the closeup photo, candles were lit in the shape of a heart on the porch, along with about eight flower bouquets.

The shooter, Bruce Sivao Matagi, remains in jail on a first-degree murder charge.

Also, here are some Comments left on The B-Town Blog about this tragic incident:

I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY PPL JUS WANT TO DO THINGS LIKE THAT. MY UNKO WAS A GREAT MAN WITH A BIG HEART…HE WAS THE BABYY IN THE FAMILY. AND TO THE GUY WHO SHOT MY UNKO YOU BETTER BE VERY THANKFUL THAT LAW ENFORcEMENT GOT YOU 1ST……MAY YOU REST IN LOVE UNKO BEN ALWAYS IN OURS HEARTS AND ON OUR MINDS. I LOVE YOU FOREVER UNTIL THAT DAY WE MEET AGAIN. IA MANUIA LOU MAGALA. I LOVE YOU UNKO B……………………..

i’m going to miss you unko B. You were everyones favorite and you will never be forgotten. To you monk i hope you get released early on good behavior. when you get out i’ll be waiting for your punk ass.

iiM MiiSSiiN yOOh LiiKe Crazy uNko beN yOoh Was LiiKe a father to everyone but yea who eva did that to yooh will pay the priCe but its all good your in a better plaCe now unko ben muCh love to yooh Rest in harmony…

Here’s a video we found of Laumea’s memorial service:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=35283795

Monday morning, the King County Sheriff’s Office announced that the driver of the Cadillac who was shot last Tuesday at South 188th and International Blvd. in SeaTac, died overnight at Harborview Hospital.

On Saturday night, the fourth and final suspect, 21, turned himself in. Previously the other three had been arrested.

Charges for all four are expected this week.

In the meantime, bail was set at $2 million each for First-Degree Murder.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Fourth, Final SeaTac Shooting Suspect Turns Self In
• Three Out Of Four SeaTac Shooters Arrested, One In Burien
• VIDEO: Security Cam Footage From SeaTac Shooting

The male suspect in a shooting death of a man outside a Boulevard Park apartment pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning, according to The Seattle Times.

The suspect, Cesar Trochez-Jimenez, 28, is accused of shooting and killing Mario Batiz-Castillo, 25, on July 7th.

He was arrested a few days later in Vancouver, B.C.

Batiz-Castillo was shot four times and died inside his SUV, which was parked at the Willow Terrace apartments in the 1100 block of South 99th Street in Boulevard Park.

Prosecutors say that the shooter believed the victim was having an affair with his girlfriend, which was the likely motive.

Read the full story here.

According to Memphis-based news website Commercial Appeal, police arrested Gary Lipsey, the suspect in the shooting death of Kevin Camacho, 24, at the Spruce Motel last Monday (March 16th).

Lipsey, 28, was arrested at around 11:15pm Friday night by officers who found him hiding in a closet in a home in North Memphis.

Lipsey is now being held and is awaiting extradition on murder charges in Camacho’s homicide.