Bail Set At $250K for Mother, Son Accused of Helping Cover Up Randle Homicide

A judge ordered the mother and son accused of helping Jonathon Adamson and Benito Marquez cover up the death of Randle teen Benjamin Eastman III last year be held in the Lewis County Jail on $250,000 bail pending future court hearings..

Among the most serious accusations leveled against Michael D. Salazar, 17, and Amanda L. Hagerty, 42, is that Salazar, after learning that the killing was planned to take place, physically restrained a person planning to report the plan to a third party.

Both appeared in Lewis County Superior Court Monday afternoon for preliminary appearances — Salazar alongside retained legal counsel Robert Chavez and Hagerty with public defender Erin McCrillis. Both attorneys reserved their right to argue for bail amounts at a later date.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead argued for $250,000 bail for each, pointing out that these were amounts set over the weekend following their arrests.

Judge James Lawler imposed the amount, and set Salazar’s arraignment hearing for Aug. 1 and Hagerty’s for Thursday.

According to court documents, Salazar knew Marquez and Adamson had plans to kill Eastman after they spoke of their intentions during a camping trip on June 24, 2018. When another individual later tried to tell an adult about the plan, Salazar allegedly held her down and prevented her from doing so.

Deputies interviewed the person Salazar allegedly restrained, according to court documents which indicate she said: “I tell Michael I’m like are they gonna kill him and everything like that and then he tells me no and then I try and get up and go and he just sits on me so I can’t, like I couldn’t get up and he was just like you need to calm down, you need to go to sleep, it’s fine.”

Documents go on to say Salazar later allegedly helped Adamson and Marquez start a fire used to burn evidence of the killing and assisted them in cleaning themselves of any evidence.

In an interview with Lewis County deputies, Salazar said he heard the pair talking about luring Eastman from his house, and was under the impression that they would, at least, assault him.

Detectives interviewed Adamson after he pleaded guilty to murder and other crimes, and he indicated that he likely would not have followed through on a plan to kill Eastman had another adult confronted him about the plan.

Salazar was charged with first-degree murder or in the alternative second-degree murder. Court documents read: “To commit this crime, the defendant acted as a principal and/or an accomplice of another person in the commission of the crime; contrary to Revised Code of Washington 9A.08.020(2)(c).”

Documents also read: “At the time of the offense, the defendant was 16 years of age. The crime of Murder is … classified as a serious violent offense under Washington Law. As a result, jurisdiction is vested in the Superior Court.”

He was also charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance and tampering with physical evidence.

Hagerty is accused of helping Adamson and Marquez plan a false story to tell law enforcement as they investigated Eastman’s disappearance — prior to his body being found in a shallow grave in Randle.

“In addition, the defendant alerted the family as to the discovery of (Eastman’s) body allowing the murder suspects to flee the area before being contacted by law enforcement,” read court documents.

Adamson and Marquez were both arrested in Ellensburg after being pulled over by a Washington State Patrol trooper on Interstate 90.

Hagerty was charged with two counts of first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

Both were arrested Friday afternoon in Kennewick where they reside and transported to Lewis County.