Sunday, December 11, 2011

Washougal, WA: Washougal investigation points to a murder-suicide

WASHOUGAL, Wash. - Investigators looking into what happened at a home in Washougal that went up in flames amid a barrage of gunfire are now looking at the case as a murder-suicide.

Last Wednesday, someone fired multiple rounds from rifles and handguns for at least 90 minutes as a home at 32nd Avenue and F Place in Washougal burned to the ground.

The man who lives at the home, 47-year-old Steven D. Stanbary, has been unaccounted for since then. His wife, 50-year-old Leona Bolton and her identical twin sister that lived with them, are missing as well.

Investigators later recovered two bodies from the charred rubble but the remains have not yet been positively identified. However, detectives believe Stanbary is likely one of the deceased, based on personal effects and other items that were found near the body.

At this point, investigators are looking at the case as a murder-suicide. They believe Stanbary is the suspect at the center of what happened at the home.

A motive is unknown at this time but Stanbary was under investigation for sex crimes. He was expected to turn himself in to Washougal detectives last Thursday.

Back in 1994, Stanbary was arrested and served 90 days in jail following a standoff with sheriff's deputies in Bonner County, Idaho. Authorities there seized a weapons cache at his home, including a grenade launcher, a sawed-off shotgun and six AK-47 assault rifles.

Stanbary also had a history of espousing white supremacist views, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

Homer Adams, who worked for Stanbary at a landscaping company, told the Associated Press his boss mentioned Randy Weaver, a white separatist involved in a deadly confrontation with federal agents in Idaho in 1992.

Adams said the homeowner also seemed angry about the 1993 federal action in Waco, Texas, that led to the deaths of dozens of members of the Branch Davidian Church.

No comments: