Tim Haeck – MyNorthwest.com

Inslee proposes plan to charge big polluters to fund budget priorities

Tim Haeck — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 06:01:28 +0000

Governor Jay Inslee concedes he faces powerful opposition to his plan to charge the state’s biggest polluters to raise money for key budget priorities.

The Governor joined environmentalists, state lawmakers, labor and business leaders Wednesday to announce his “cap and trade” proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“It charges industrial polluters based on the amount of pollution they emit because it’s time for polluters to pay their fair share to solve this problem,” he said.

Inslee said the system sets a limit on carbon. Polluting industries would purchase credits at auction with a minimum price. He expects to raise $1 billion starting in 2016.

Aside from corporate resistance, opposition lawmakers are sure to fight the plan. Inslee said pollution is a threat to our state and he’ll appeal to legislators’ desire to protect future generations.

“They’re highest motivation for what they do, I believe, is to take care of their kids and their grand kids and nothing surpasses that,” he argued. Ultimately, Inslee said he thinks lawmakers will agree that it’s better to tax pollution than voters or drivers, referring to his proposal to tap the cap and trade revenues to help fund transportation projects as an alternative to a higher gasoline tax.

The proposal still needs to be approved by the Legislature, and is certain to face resistance. Republicans will have outright control of the Senate after picking up seats in the November election.

Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, who chairs the Senate environment committee, said the governor’s plan “would make it more expensive to take a family vacation, drive your kids to soccer practice and heat your home.”

Ericksen called it “a general fund tax increase” that will hurt working families and businesses, and said he would work to come up with clean energy solutions that aren’t so costly.

Mindful that jobs could be lost, Inslee said his plan makes allowances for energy-intensive industries who have to compete with other energy-intensive companies in non-regulated markets overseas.

“Because it is not acceptable to me to have a carbon pollution plan that ends up shipping jobs overseas,” Inslee said.

Speaking at the R-E-I store in downtown Seattle, Inslee also proposed initiatives to extend incentives for electric vehicles and to promote cleaner transportation options, including more high-speed charging stations.

Inslee called the proposals doable.

“History has shown that change comes faster and cheaper than we often anticipate,” he said, using the example of solar electricity that he said has dropped in cost an average of 20 percent per year since 2010.

The Governor said he has reason for optimism, adding that failure is not an option in the Evergreen State. Inslee will roll out more complete details of his proposed 2015-2016 budget Thursday in Olympia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

State hands out $70 million for statewide bridge fixes

Tim Haeck — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:41:16 +0000

The state is distributing $70 million in federal highway funds to help pay for the repair or replacement of 32 bridges.

The city and county across Washington were selected for funding by a state advisory committee, according to Washington State Department of Transportation engineering manager Kyle McKeon.

“We evaluate and prioritize based on condition and those in the worst condition typically rate the highest,” he explained.

Local governments made 73 applications for projects valued at $180 million. The federal money is distributed every two years.

Bridges on the funding list will get money for everything from paint to deck overlay to seismic retrofit to replacement.

More than 1/3 of the money is going toward two bridge replacements, including West Cashmere Bridge, in Chelan County and West Kenmore Bridge. Each will get $12 million.

This is the same pot of money that generated $20 million in 2010 to help pay for replacement of King County’s South Park Bridge.

Jury convicts former Bellevue developer of tax evasion

Tim Haeck — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 03:54:48 +0000

A federal jury in Seattle has convicted a former Bellevue developer and lender, who used secret accounts to hide millions of dollars of income from tax collectors.

At first, investigators said Thomas Hazelrigg III agreed to pay $533,454 in unpaid taxes for 1989 through 1991. But, he failed to pay the debt and lived a lavish lifestyle, they claimed.

For ten years, starting in 1997, a jury was told that Hazelrigg, 68 diverted income from his businesses into the secret accounts. During that time, he bought a Bellevue penthouse, Chihuly glass chandeliers, and two luxury homes in Palm Springs. He spent millions of dollars on gambling, thoroughbred horse racing, private aircraft, and country club fees, according to prosecutors.

“This trial laid bare Mr. Hazelrigg’s wide-ranging deceit and manipulation all in the service of greed,” said Acting United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes in a news release.

After a 9-day trial, the jury on Thursday convicted Hazelrigg on two counts of tax evasion that carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each charge.

Sentencing is March 12, 2015.

Exam reveals orca fetus likely died before mother

Tim Haeck — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 07:50:13 +0000

A detailed examination reveals the likely cause of the death of a pregnant orca found in the waters off B.C. this month.

The necropsy on the mammal, identified as J-32, last weekend revealed that the killer whale’s near-term fetus died first, and likely contributed to its mother’s death because she couldn’t expel it, according to findings released Thursday. The whale was found drifting in the tide in the Strait of Georgia, north of Nanaimo, B.C.

A pathologist with the Center for Whale Research said there was also evidence the 19-year-old orca had an inadequate diet for an extended period of time. Tissue samples were sent away for analysis.

The number of whales in the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population has dwindled from 92-to-77 in recent years, according to Orca Relief Citizens Alliance. It’s believed that there are about one-dozen reproductively viable females remaining.

‘Tuba Man’ killer pleads guilty in 2012 Munchbar shooting

Tim Haeck — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 07:59:16 +0000

The man convicted when he was a teenager of killing a popular Seattle street musician has pleaded guilty to murder.

Jamari Jones is now 21 years old. As a 16 year old, he attacked the guy known as “Tuba Man” or Edward McMichael.

“Mr. McMichael was robbed one night by a number of individuals, including Mr. Jones,” said Mark Larson, chief criminal deputy King County prosecutor. “He didn’t actually die for almost a week when some type of bleed in his brain took his life.”

On Wednesday, Jones pleaded guilty as charged to second degree murder for shooting a man in a Bellevue bar on Christmas Eve 2012. Munchbar was jammed with holiday revelers, Seahawks fans, and players following a game. Larson said Jones got into a fight with DeShawn Milliken.

“Mr. Jones pulled out a weapon and fired numerous rounds, among them striking and killing the victim, DeShawn Milliken,” Larson said.

Jones’ attorney will recommend that a judge sentence Jones to 15 years in prison. The prosecutor will recommend a sentence of more than 19 years, which is within the standard range.

Activist group calls for San Juan whale protection zone

Tim Haeck — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 06:33:30 +0000

Activists are calling for a limited, whale protection zone off San Juan Island to help the declining local population of endangered orcas.

The protection zone could include a no-wake speed limit to cut noise and discourage whale watching boats that sometimes pursue orcas.

“They need more chance to rest and to socialize in a quieter environment,” said Bruce Stedman, executive director of “But particularly, they need a quieter environment to hunt and that hunting is even more difficult when the salmon are as low as they are and have been for the last couple of years.”

Orca Relief Alliance delivered a report Wednesday outlining its proposal to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The nonprofit organization wants federal regulators to consider a three-quarter-mile-wide zone from April 15-October 15. He argues it’s something that could be done quickly to help orcas. Other issues, such as falling salmon stocks and toxins in the environment, could take decades to reverse, Stedman said.

The Southern Resident Killer Whale population is declining and is listed as endangered. A pregnant female was recently found dead off Vancouver Island.

“Given the decline, and this latest death is just an indicator of that, to do nothing and just sit back and say, ‘Well, we don’t know whether this will be effective or not, so we won’t do it,’ we think would be irresponsible,” Stedman argued.

The orca protection organization claims that current vessel separation rules and voluntary “no-go-zone” are not doing enough to protect the local orca population, which has dwindled from 92-77 in recent years.

Twitter posts prompt extra security at Jackson High School in Mill Creek

Tim Haeck — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 02:09:29 +0000

Extra security is on the campus of Jackson High School in Mill Creek because of disturbing comments posted on social media.

Principal Dave Peters posted a note on the saying police have received more than 100 calls about the material. Peters emphasizes that there are no direct threats to the school or any individuals, other than the author of the post.

Mill Creek Police are working with Twitter, trying to figure out who wrote the comments, which sound like a suicide threat. The principal was not more specific.

Peters says he understands if some parents want to keep their children home from school Wednesday. He urges parents to speak to their children about what they read online and to report conversations of concern.

Jury set to deliberate fatal 2012 Seattle traffic shooting

Tim Haeck — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 11:18:19 +0000

Dinh Bowman, thrill-killer or terrified motorist? Closing arguments are over and jurors must now decide if the murder of a Seattle wine steward in August 2012 was the work of a “student of murder” or self-defense by a terrified motorist.

For more than two days, Bowman, who turned 32 years old on Tuesday, told jurors about how he accidentally cut off another driver who then chased him down and threatened him, making gun gestures, even throwing a full wine bottle at his head.

In her closing argument, senior deputy King County prosecuting attorney Kristin Richardson told jurors that is a fairytale.

“This is not a man who acted in self-defense on the spur of the moment. This is a man who knew exactly what he needed to do because he had studied what to do after killing someone and he put it instantly into action,” she told jurors.

Investigators recovered volumes of material from Bowman’s computer, including manuals describing how to kill and avoid capture. Bowman insisted that he inadvertently downloaded that material and never read it.

The prosecutor said Bowman was a marksman and that Yancy Noll likely turned to face his killer as the two drivers came to a stop, side by side, at a Roosevelt neighborhood traffic signal. She said Bowman aimed his 9mm Glock at Noll and shot him multiple times in the head.

“And that’s premeditated murder,” Richardson said.

Bowman tried to cover up the crime and denied his involvement after his arrest.

“For two years, he lied to his parents,” Richardson told the jury.

“People who experience tragic incidents, like war or like self-defense, don’t share those things with their loved ones,” countered defense attorney John Henry Browne in his closing argument.

He told the jury that the state has the burden to disprove Bowman’s self-defense claim.

“You go back in there, you go ‘I have a doubt as to whether it was self-defense, or not;’ you must acquit,” Browne argued.

The jury will start deliberating a verdict Wednesday morning on a single charge; murder in the first degree.

Defense rests in fatal north Seattle traffic shooting

Tim Haeck — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 04:46:47 +0000

The defense has rested its case in the murder trial of a man charged with shooting another motorist at a north Seattle traffic signal.

In two-plus days of testimony, Dinh Bowman did not waver from his claim that he shot and killed Yancy Noll in self-defense, claiming Noll was the aggressor in a case of road rage on I-5.

“So, in order to make this perfectly clear, you did intend to shoot Mr. Noll?” asked defense attorney John Henry Browne.

“Uh, I did,” Bowman responded Tuesday morning.

Bowman shot Noll four times in the head while the two were stopped at a traffic signal in the Roosevelt neighborhood in August 2012.

Bowman used a 9mm Glock handgun but testified he also owned a revolver, which does not eject shell casings.

“If I had thought about something like that, and said I didn’t want to leave evidence, I think you would be a fool to choose anything but a revolver,” Bowman testified to a King County Superior Court jury. He was the only witness for the defense.

The prosecutor claims Bowman did plan the killing, studying manuals downloaded to his computer about murder and how to get away with it. He’s charged with first degree murder.

Murder suspect defends cleaning car, kill manuals in Yancy Noll trial

Tim Haeck — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:58:30 +0000

The man charged with fatally shooting a wine steward at a Seattle intersection in August 2012 denied that he has a fascination with murder.

Investigators found volumes of material on Dihn Bowman’s computer dealing with killing, forensics, and how to get away with murder.

During cross examination in Bowman’s murder trial Monday, King County prosecutor Kristin Richardson asked Bowman if he’s interested in killing people.

“I don’t believe so, no,” Bowman answered.

“Especially on how to kill people in cars, right?” Richardson asked.

“I would not say that either,” he said.

Bowman admits he shot Yancy Noll, but claims he initially tried to hide the crime because he thought nobody would believe his self-defense claim. He said Noll threw two bottles at him, including a full wine bottle that hit him in the back of the head.

“You threw away the two pieces of evidence, the two weapons that you would say linked Yancy Noll to an assault on you that led you to act in self-defense, right?” asked Richardson.

“I tried to get rid of any association I had with this,” answered Bowman. “I didn’t think they would even believe me to look at that.”

The prosecutor asked Bowman why he washed his car after driving to Portland to replace his windshield, which was shattered by gunfire.

“There was a lot of bugs on the trip down,” Bowman said.

“So it had nothing to do with the fact that you shot a man to death?” Richardson asked.

“Why would that have anything to do with it?” Bowman countered.

The prosecutor wanted Bowman to explain why investigators found manuals on his computer titled “Murder Inc.” and “Death Dealers Manual.”

Bowman insisted manuals titled, “Murder Inc.” and “Death Dealers Manual” found on his computer were downloaded by accident along with other material.

Seattle Children’s launches $100 million cancer fundraiser

Tim Haeck — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 23:06:56 +0000

With the help of a certain local football hero, Seattle Children’s Hospital is launching an ambitious fundraising campaign to speed development of a promising treatment for childhood cancer.

You’ve heard the phrase, “The cure is worse than the disease.” Seattle Children’s is exploring alternatives to chemotherapy and radiation.

“The long-term side effects on these innocent little bodies that are receiving massive doses of radiation or chemotherapy in the efforts to save their lives, they really are damaging them significantly, an impact that could last their lifetime,” said Aileen Kelly, Vice President with Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Foundation.

The new fundraising campaign will help provide patient access to clinical trials on immunotherapy, which uses a child’s reprogrammed immune cells to fight cancer. Milton Wright, 21, is living proof, a leukemia patient who was out of options.

“He was really at a point where there was absolutely nothing working for him anymore, he had three relapses so this trial so happened to finally become available,” said Kelly. Wright is now living and working when he thought he didn’t have a chance, said Kelly.

According to Children’s, the National Institutes for Health provides just three percent of its budget for pediatric cancer. So the “Strong Against Cancer” initiative has a multi-year fundraising goal of $100 million.

“It’s a huge number but it certainly costs a lot more than that to continue this work into the future, but it just takes a big audacious goal to make things happen,” said Kelly.

Public Service Announcements will feature Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

“With our wonderful friendship with Russell Wilson, the timing is all in alignment and we’re just excited to make a major impact, globally,” said Kelly.

So far, seven patients at Seattle Children’s have gone into remission following immunotherapy treatment. The new treatments originated at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children’s but the benefits could be felt around the world.

New talks Tuesday will try to resolve West Coast port terminals dispute

Tim Haeck — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 23:04:03 +0000

After weeks of lost productivity, backlogs and finger-pointing, contract talks resume Tuesday between west coast terminal operators and union Longshore members in Seattle and elsewhere, who are working without a contract.

For the last few weeks, we’ve been hearing about a backlog of shipping containers on the docks filled with clothing, apples, Christmas trees and other export products. Productivity at the Port of Seattle and other port terminals remains down from normal, according to most observers.

Shippers have blamed the union for work slowdowns and other disruptions. The union calls the problem a “congestion crisis” and blames other factors, including a shortage of trailer chassis, larger ships that overwhelm the docks and crowded rail lines due to the fracking craze.

“It’s a much more complex and difficult problem than just scapegoating workers,” said Craig Merrilees, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in San Francisco.

Lately, both sides have dialed down the rhetoric. Wade Gates, with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), representing terminal operators, said now, the focus is on new contract talks, on hold for about 12 days.

“That gives us a chance to get back to the table, to get talking about what we call the big table issues and I think that’s what people are focused on right now.”

There’s a measure of optimism, perhaps for the first time since the ILWU contract with the terminal operators expired July 1.

“Talks have continued to be positive and progress has been made on real key issues,” said Merrilees.

“Everyone is focused on getting back to the negotiations,” said Gates.

A new, face-to-face bargaining session gets underway Tuesday morning in San Francisco.

Traffic through West Coast ports represents about 12.5 percent of the national gross domestic product, according to the PMA.

The union represents dockworkers at 29 west coast ports and puts the total economic value of cargo moving through those ports at more than $2 trillion.

77-year-old pedestrian killed by teen driver in Bellevue

Tim Haeck — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 02:22:27 +0000

A teenage driver struck and killed a 77-year-old pedestrian Monday morning at an intersection near I-90 in Bellevue.

The collision happened near just south of an I-90 interchange in Eastgate. The driver was traveling westbound, making a right turn at the time, according to police.

“The person was actually dragged quite a ways by the vehicle,” said police officer Seth Tyler. “There is a crosswalk in the area. We don’t know if the pedestrian was in that crosswalk.”

It was dark at the time of the collision. The 18-year-old driver is cooperating with investigators, Tyler said. Police are also checking traffic cameras in the area for more evidence. They do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor.

The police investigation disrupted rush hour traffic for hours, forcing some drivers bound for the freeway to find another route.

Creating a new bicycling culture in Seattle; start with the clothing?

Tim Haeck — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 23:25:52 +0000

Seattle is building new bicycle paths, dedicated lanes and traffic signals, and creating a bike share program, all to make cycling and bike commuting more attractive. But something is missing.

If you’ve ever seen a cyclist dressed in colorful spandex, racing down the street, and thought to yourself, ‘Way to go, Lance Armstrong, but I can’t do what you’re doing,’ Juliette Delfs wants to help you. She opened Hub and BeSpoke, a bicycle clothing store in Fremont that sells “normal looking” bike clothes.

“We were thinking that it would encourage others to ride in general if the model on the street, the person on the street, doesn’t look like a hardcore athlete,” Delfs said.

At her store on , Delfs showed off a fashionable women’s raincoat that is waterproof, with venting and built-in reflectivity, cut for an arm-forward riding position – but not big and baggy. It’s bicycle clothing that doesn’t look like bicycle clothing.

“My most preferred compliment is, ‘You rode in that.'”

Bicycling is widely accepted in other parts of the world. But Mark Peterson, a bicycle commuter and marketing professor at the University of Wyoming, called cycling the most underutilized form of transportation in the U.S. He said Seattle and other cities need to create a less intimidating bicycling culture that welcomes new riders.

Normal clothing is a good example of that.

“There’s a large percentage of people in most places in Holland that ride their bicycles so it is common for business executives to arrive at their destination by bicycle,” Peterson said.

Delfs insisted you don’t always need to shower and change clothes for a simple bike ride.

“I’ve had people who do two-mile commutes and they’ll come back and tell me I’ve changed their lives,” she said. “I’ve taken 45 minutes out of their day on each end because they’re not dealing with all these logistics.”

Congestion charges, tolls and other taxes are used to discourage cars and encourage bicycling, Peterson said. But potential riders also need to hear that cycling is safe, weather is not a real obstacle, and bicycles belong. That’s creating a new bicycle culture.

“It starts with clothing and just having a lot of conversations,” Delfs said.

“To have a community that’s receptive to bicycling is kind of a hallmark or a designation of a community that cares about quality of life,” added Peterson, who said it should be cool to cycle to work.

Man charged in Auburn crash that killed four passengers

Tim Haeck — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 03:50:24 +0000

The suspected driver of a car that crashed in Auburn, killing four passengers, is now charged in their deaths.

Police investigators say Nicholas Anderson, 38, was speeding when he drove off the road on Auburn Way South in the early morning hours of October 25. The car went into a ditch, crashed into a tree and hit three utility boxes. Four passengers, two males and two females, were dead at the scene and a fifth person remains hospitalized in a coma.

Anderson’s dog was severely injured in the crash and was euthanized.

It’s believed alcohol also played a role in the crash, but blood tests are not back, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney. Anderson is charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular assault.

Anderson was released from a hospital last week and arrested in Port Angeles. Bail has been set at $750,000. Anderson will face a judge to enter a plea December 1.

1 suspect arrested, 1 still sought in fatal Lakewood home invasion

Tim Haeck — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 02:22:25 +0000

Police have arrested a teenager in the case of a home invasion robbery in Lakewood this week in which the homeowner shot one of three attackers.

Detectives arrested a 19-year-old on Wednesday that they believe is one of three people who forced their way into the home Tuesday night, attacking the homeowners and tying them up.

One homeowner was able to get free and retreated to a bedroom where he armed himself, according to police. When one of the robbers entered the bedroom, the homeowner fired two shots and the three men took off.

About an hour later, a body with a gunshot wound, was found dumped in a Federal Way parking lot, more than 20 miles away. Police believe he was one of the three home invaders.

The man arrested Wednesday night is being held on murder, assault, kidnapping and other charges. Police will not say how they tracked down the 19-year-old suspect.

Prosecutor says defendant was on a ‘murder quest’ in Yancy Noll killing

Tim Haeck — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 22:48:12 +0000

At first, Seattle police thought it must have been road rage. There was seemingly no other explanation for the shooting death of a Seattle wine steward as he sat in his car, waiting for a light to change in August 2012. As a murder trial gets underway, the prosecutor says it was a random killing, but one that was planned far in advance.

Easing alongside Yancy Noll’s beat-up Subaru at , another driver pulled out a 9mm Glock handgun.

“Aimed it at Yancy’s head, fired through his own passenger window, shattering the glass and fired his weapon five times,” King County deputy prosecutor Adrienne McCoy told jurors.

Four shots hit the mark. Police assumed it was road rage because they couldn’t explain why somebody would open fire on a complete stranger in broad daylight.

“They were looking for someone with a motive. They had no idea they were looking for a student of murder, for someone for whom the murder was the motive,” McCoy offered in her opening statement.

A few days after the killing, a tipster put police on to Dinh Bowman and they staked out his home, about ten blocks from the crime scene. When they had enough for a search warrant for Bowman’s home and his business, McCoy told the jury investigators found volumes of information about guns and murder, a reference library including materials about how to commit a murder and how to get away with it, said McCoy, adding some of the suggestions matched exactly how Noll was killed.

“It was only then that the police knew, as you will know, this was not road rage,” declared McCoy. She said Bowman was on a quest to learn what it was like to kill someone, “and now he knows,” she concluded.

Defense attorney John Henry Browne objected to the prosecutor’s characterization of Bowman but declined to give the jury an opening statement of his own, telling ��Xվ Radio earlier this week that it was a road rage situation and a case of self defense.

Body of suspect in home invasion dumped in Federal Way

Tim Haeck — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 03:23:05 +0000

The body found dumped in a Federal Way parking lot Tuesday night is believed to be that of a man involved in a home invasion robbery and assault 20 miles away in Lakewood, according to investigators.

Police learned of the home invasion when a frantic call came into 911. Three men had forced their way into a home on Briar Road, attacked a man and his wife, and tied them up while demanding cash and valuables. At some point, Lakewood Police Lt. Chris Lawler said the men went outside and the homeowner got free, untied his wife and they retreated to the bedroom.

“They come back to the bedroom and the homeowner, defending himself, fires two rounds. With the evidence at the scene, not finding bullets, we pretty much assume somebody had to be hit. One of the bad guys was probably struck by gunfire,” Lawler said.

A little more than an hour later, a 911 caller alerted Federal Way police to a body found outside the Club Palisades Apartments on Star Lake Road.

“The fact that it was a gunshot victim and the description, our detectives ended up responding out there and there is some evidence at the scene that pointed us to believe that this guy is one of the suspects, one of the three suspects,” said Lawler.

Recently, home invasion robbers have been targeting the operators of marijuana businesses, looking for cash. Lawler said the evidence indicates this was a more random attack and detectives are still searching for the other two men.

Police have described the suspects as black males, each about 5 feet 10 inches tall with medium builds. The men were wearing dark clothing and masks at the time of the home invasion.

In an earlier, unrelated shooting in Federal Way a man who was trying to sell a gun was wounded by a man who grabbed it and ran off.

Shots also were fired after a separate home invasion Tuesday at the home of a marijuana dispensary owner in Midland in Pierce County.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Road rage or thrill killing? Trial for murder of Yancy Noll begins

Tim Haeck — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 00:34:16 +0000

Jurors were told that the shooting death of a Seattle man waiting for a traffic signal was the act of a stranger obsessed with murder.

In opening statements Wednesday, King County Prosecutor Adrienne McCoy said, at first, police thought the killing of Yancy Noll on August 31, 2012 was road rage. There was no other explanation.

“No one imagined that a person would kill a complete stranger in broad daylight for no reason,” McCoy said.

Three gunshots struck Noll in the head, killing the grocery store wine steward.

Witnesses led police to Dinh Bowman, who lived nearby in the Roosevelt neighborhood.

Police said after the shooting, Bowman changed out his tires, replaced a window in his silver BMW Z-4, and dismantled his gun.

A search of Bowman’s computer found large amounts of material about how to commit murder. The prosecutor claims journal entries show Bowman fantasized about being a hit man.

The defense called that material irrelevant and said this is a case of road rage and a case of self-defense.

Two injured in south Tacoma home invasion, rolling gun battle

Tim Haeck — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 06:52:53 +0000

One person has been shot and deputies are searching for suspects in a home invasion robbery involving the owner of a marijuana dispensary in South Tacoma that culminated with a “rolling gun battle” Tuesday afternoon.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer says two armed, masked men forced their way into a home in the

The robbers demanded cash and fired off a couple of rounds and tied up the homeowner. When his girlfriend showed up, she was bound, as well and both were assaulted, according to Troyer.

A friend of the victim, who was outside at the time, got in his car and chased the gunmen as they fled, sparking what Troyer called a “rolling gun battle” that went on for several blocks. Dozens of rounds were fired and the friend was hit by multiple gunshots. He was transported to a hospital as was the homeowner, who was pistol-whipped.

Detectives are searching for a gray or pewter-colored Tahoe or Suburban with bullet holes. One of the robbers could be wounded, based on the number of rounds fired, said Troyer. He added they may be in the Renton or South King County area.

No one has been arrested.

Troyer said they believe this wasn’t a random robbery. The victims are tied to a previous robbery at a dispensary in October.

“It’s going to become a problem. This is a large cash business and wherever cash goes, crime goes,” he said.

Troyer suspects crimes like these will continue until banks are allowed to accept money from marijuana businesses.