'I Want to Know What Happened': Woman Seeking Closure After Brother’s Death Asks Lewis County Residents to Reach Out

An Idaho woman and her family are asking Lewis County residents who may have known or spoke to her late brother who died in Chehalis after he was hit by a train in August to reach out to them so they can get the closure they have been seeking.

Paul M. Martin, 31, was hit by a BNSF train that was near the intersection of North National Avenue and Northeast Coal Creek Road at 1:38 a.m. on Aug. 23 and later died due to his injuries on Aug. 26 at Harborview Medical Center.

Brandi Martin, Paul’s sister, told The Chronicle she and her family still want to know, in a broader context, why.

“I want to know what happened,” Brandi Martin said. It’s a question she says her family has not been able to conclusively answer yet.

They are not exactly sure what led Paul Martin, a Caldwell, Idaho native, to the Chehalis area, nor do they know what happened in the events that led up to his death, but they want to find out.

Brandi Martin explained that it feels as if the Chehalis Police Department’s investigation hit a standstill, so now they are asking anyone in the Lewis County area who might have known Paul Martin or spoke with him prior to his death that could help them fit the pieces together and give them the closure they desire.

Brandi Martin added that it is not her family’s intention to question the legitimacy of the Chehalis Police Department’s investigation, though they were not pleased when they reviewed the investigation report.

According to the Chehalis Police Department’s investigation report that The Chronicle was able to obtain, a Chehalis detective reachout out to BNSF on Aug. 26 inquiring about any internal investigation being done and was told that no investigation was conducted on behalf of the company because the BNSF police officer with the Centralia office had recently retired and no one had filled the vacancy yet.

Additionally, no statements were taken by the two BNSF employees operating the train, though they were not asked for statements at the time of the collision, according to the investigation report.

Later, a BNSF deputy reached out to a Chehalis Police detective saying an incident report would be made available to their department upon its completion, according to the investigation report, but Sergeant Gwen Carroll said the department has not received any report yet.

On Sept 2., the King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Paul Martin’s death was accidental and according to the investigation report, there was no evidence that supported any criminal charges in the case.

However, Brandi Martin suspects that her brother could have been robbed prior to his death based on the items he had in his possession.

When the Martin family came to Chehalis on Aug. 27 to claim Paul Martin’s possessions, they were surprised that they didn’t recognize any of his possessions, Brandi Martin said.

All of the items the Chehalis Police Department had that were in Paul Martin’s possession at the time of his death were new, even some clothes with tags still on them. However, Brandi Martin knows that her brother left home with much older clothing. 

She said her brother would have had his favorite black leather Harley Davidson vest on him — a possession of that his family is desperately trying to recover — but police didn’t have it or any of the items Brandi Martin recalled him leaving home with.

“He was really nice, my brother was the guy that will be your friend and think that you’re going to be nice to him and you’re not,” Brandi Martin said. “You’re going to stab him in the back and my brother will do everything for you and not see it coming.”

Brandi Martin also told The Chronicle that her brother was a sweet and loving man who enjoyed working on classic cars and building computers. 

“He was a computer engineer, he didn’t have a degree but he had a job as a computer engineer,” Brandi Martin said proudly of her late brother. “He got the job with no degree, no schooling because he just knew the stuff.”

If you knew of or spoke with Paul Martin prior to Aug. 23, email Brandi Martin at brandileemartin@gmail.com.