Updated: Chehalis Woman’s Fiance Charged With Murder

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The man who reported that his fiance had died in a car accident on a rural forest road near Morton last week was charged with second-degree murder Monday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

Corey R. Morgan, of Randle, is accused of strangling Brenda L. Bail to death with his hands. The medical examiner said it took between four and six minutes for Bail to die of asphyxiation caused by the strangulation, court documents stated.

Another contributing factor to the 48-year-old’s death was blunt-force trauma to her head, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said Monday.

Morgan called 911 to report the vehicle accident at 1:30 a.m. Friday after he said he walked about two miles from the crash to a house on the 5900 block of state Route 508, according to the sheriff’s office. He told deputies that he and his fiance were “visiting their special spot” on Forest Service Road 73 near Morton when three men “jumped” them.

Prosecutors say there was a history of domestic violence between them, including a fourth-degree assault conviction that stemmed from an incident in which Morgan punched Bail in the face last October, court documents state.

A family member of Morgan, who was aware of the domestic violence arrest, told police that it was “only a matter of time” before Morgan did something like murder, court documents state.

Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey set Morgan’s bail at $500,000 dollars during his preliminary court appearance Monday.

Morgan will be arraigned Thursday morning. The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison.

During his multiple interviews with police, Morgan did not appear upset or shaken up by what happened, according to court documents. He laughed and joked with police during the interview, prosecutors claim.

Morgan told police that earlier in the night, at about 10 p.m., they were drinking at the Market Street Pub, according to court documents. Afterward, they went to Wendy’s in Chehalis to get food for themselves as well as Bail’s daughter, which they dropped off at a house in Chehalis. Bail’s daughter told police she never saw her mother that night.

At about 1 a.m., Morgan told police, they drove to Forest Road 73 where they planned to drink more alcohol, court documents state. At that point in the night, he said he had a few drinks, and that Bail had more than five.



Morgan said another vehicle followed them down the road and drove in a different direction, according to court documents.

When Bail got out of the car to pee, Morgan told police, the car came up behind them at a high rate of speed, and made a wild spin before coming to a stop, court documents state. Three men jumped out of the car and attacked Bail with a baton and a flashlight, he claimed.

At that point, Morgan said he got out of the car and used his martial arts training to fend of all three men, court documents state. Morgan said he hit one of them in the face so hard it “knocked him out cold.”

After fighting off the men, Morgan claimed to have put Bail into the truck and sped down Forest Road 73, toward state Route 508, at speeds of 70 mph as the other car followed, court documents state. He eventually drove into a ditch and got stuck, he said, and the other car sped away.

During the crash, Morgan said Bail hit her head on the dashboard, lost consciousness and stopped breathing, according to the sheriff’s office. Morgan then ran two miles to the house to call 911, he said. When medics arrived, Bail was dead.

According to court documents, detectives found a series of inconsistencies with his story: There was no sign of a high-speed spinout, as Morgan claimed. The damage to the truck Morgan crashed into the ditch was minimal, and not consistent with a high-speed wreck. Also, the injury Morgan claimed he sustained after he was hit in the head with a flashlight during the fight, was more of a scratch rather than a blunt-force injury.

At one point during his interview, he asked police if they had figured out how she had died, court documents state. When police confronted Morgan about the inconsistencies, he requested a lawyer.

During his interview with police following the accident, Morgan named Roger Etter, a Kelso-area transient who formerly lived with Bail, as the attacker he knocked “out cold,” according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office released Etter’s name and photo to the media and said he was wanted for questioning in relation to the incident.

Etter turned himself into police during the weekend after he learned police were looking for him, according to court documents. Etter was not injured, and was not in the area on Friday. Detectives do not believe Etter was involved in the homicide. It is unknown why Morgan accused Etter.