Ryderwood Murder Suspect Now Accused of Witness Intimidation

One of two suspects in a fatal shooting last month in Ryderwood pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery charges in Cowlitz County on Wednesday, and now faces an additional charge of threatening a witness. 

Anthony S. Depuisaye-Greene, 26, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and intimidating a witness, in Cowlitz County. He entered not-guilty pleas for each charge.

The second homicide suspect, Elizabeth A. Rogan, 43, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

She will have an opportunity to enter a plea on April 23. Both are currently in custody in Cowlitz County. 

Additionally, a protection order was filed during Depuisaye-Greene’s arraignment hearing Wednesday in Cowlitz County Superior Court prohibiting him from making contact with a potential witness. 

According to charging documents, Depuisaye-Greene threatened a potential state witness on the same day as the shooting, March 18. Depuisaye-Greene allegedly hreatened the potential witness “by use of a threat” and “did attempt to influence the testimony of said witness, induce that person to elude the legal process summoning him to testify, induce that person to absent himself from an official proceeding, induce that person not to report information which was relevant to a criminal investigation and/or induce that person not to give truthful or complete information to a criminal investigation,” according to court documents.

Depuisaye-Greene’s attorney, Dan Morgan, requested a hearing to schedule a trial be set a couple weeks out, giving him time to review police reports and other compiled information.

A hearing was set for May 2.

According to Cowlitz County court documents, Rogan is accused of purposefully distracting 47-year-old Travis Seiber in his Ryderwood home on March 18, while Depuisaye-Greene attempted to rob him. Seiber and Depuisaye-Greene ended up in a struggle, during which Depuisaye-Greene allegedly shot Seiber in the face, killing him.

Police believe the gun used in the homicide was stolen during a string of burglaries that were primarily concentrated in Centralia, but also spanned into Chehalis and Thurston County.

Centralia Police Chief Carl Nielsen said 21 Centralia businesses were burglarized in a roughly three-week span.

Depuisaye-Greene and Rogan were originally arrested in Centralia and on April 9 were placed on 72-hour no-bail holds to give the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office time to file charges. As a condition of their hold, Judge Joely O’Rourke permitted their transportation to Cowlitz County to face murder charges.

On April 11, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges in the burglaries. Depuisaye-Greene was charged with seven counts of second-degree burglary and single counts of second-degree malicious mischief, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possessing a stolen firearm.

Rogan was charged with three counts of second-degree burglary and one count of second-degree malicious mischief.

That same day, arrest warrants and an order rescinding their conditions of release were filed, ordering for their transportation back to Lewis County, where they are set to be held on $500,000 bail.

In a previous interview with The Chronicle, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said the two will likely be in custody until the conclusion of their homicide case. Given the seriousness of the charges, it’s a process that could take a while, he said.

Meyer said additional charges are possible.

Court documents indicate that Adam I. McGowen, 27, of Centalia; Galen R. Whitmire, 27, of Centralia; and Patrick M. Gish, 29, of Winlock were named in interviews as being involved with varying numbers of the burglaries. McGowen is the only one of the three who was charged with burglary. The other two were arrested on active Department of Corrections warrants.