Weston Miller makes a Superior Court appearance at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center on Thursday morning in Chehalis.
Weston Miller makes a Superior Court appearance at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center on Thursday morning in Chehalis.
Weston Miller makes a Superior Court appearance at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center on Thursday morning in Chehalis.
The trials for four high-profile 2012 criminal cases will like likely take place in early 2013 as defense attorneys and prosecutors have been unable to reach plea agreements.
Three are murder cases and one involves alleged embezzlement from the Lewis County Historical Museum’s endowment fund.
During a court appearance Thursday by 53-year-old Deborah S. Knapp, the former director of the Lewis County Historical Museum accused of stealing at least $137,000 from the museum’s endowment fund saw her trial date pushed back for a fourth time. It’s now scheduled for March of next year.
Knapp is accused of writing herself additional paychecks and using the museum’s debit card to make personal purchases at local businesses.
The change of the trial date comes as a result of the defense and prosecution being unable to reach a plea agreement.
“We’re not resolving it at this point,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the court Thursday.
Knapp’s trial was set for the last week of January, the same week as the trial of James M. Reeder, the Centralia man accused of raping and murdering a 2-year-old girl in May. Both trials were set for the last week of January with the assumption that at least one of the cases would reach a plea agreement prior to that date.
Halstead said it appears neither one of those cases will come to an early resolution.
Knapp’s trial is set to begin March 4 and will likely last more than a week.
Knapp and Reeder are among a handful of high-profile criminal cases pending trial in Lewis County Superior Court.
The other two upcoming trials are those of Rick Riffe, the former Mossyrock man accused in the 1985 double-homicide of an elderly couple, and Weston Miller, the Centralia man accused of shooting his friend in his home last March.
Riffe’s trial, which will likely last a full month and potentially involve the testimony of about 100 witnesses, is set for early May.
Out of all those cases, Miller is the one most likely to reach a plea agreement, Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told the court Thursday.
Miller, who also made a brief appearance in court on Thursday, has not yet entered pleas, and a trial date has not been set.
Miller, who reportedly has a history of mental illness, was found competent to stand trial last week. His arraignment and trial-setting hearing, which was originally set to occur Thursday, was postponed until next week.
