Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has rejected a request for an independent probe into the error-ridden investigation of the Portland hiker who was shot and killed along with his puppy while hiking on a Cascades trail last summer.
The decision means the investigation into the death of the slain hiker, Aron Christensen, remains in the hands of the Lewis County prosecuting attorney.
“We understand that this particular case presents evidentiary challenges, but it remains open and further investigation is ongoing,” the governor’s deputy general counsel, Taylor Wonhoff, wrote in a July 6 letter declining to transfer the case to the state attorney general.
It’s been nearly a year since Christensen, a 49-year-old musician and bartender, set out on a hike on the Walupt Lake Trail last Aug. 19. He and his puppy, Buzzo, were found dead the next day. Sheriff’s deputies missed the bullet hole in Christensen’s chest, failed to preserve the scene and told family members Christensen had likely died of a heart attack, The Oregonian/OregonLive previously reported.
A 20-year-old Tenino, Washington, man later admitted he had fired a single shot the night of Aug. 19 out of fear at what he said he believed was a wild animal crouching in the bushes. He and his girlfriend, who were hiking in the area, then discovered the body of a dead man nearby.
In April, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer announced he would not charge the Washington man, Ethan Asbach, with manslaughter, citing numerous investigatory mistakes as well as a botched autopsy on Christensen that possibly contaminated evidence between Christensen and his four-month-old cattle dog. The necropsy on Buzzo also may have been faulty, according to case records.
Meyer said he was unaware of the governor’s decision and has no plans to bring misdemeanor or felony charges in the case, at least not with the evidence currently available. But Meyer confirmed in an interview Friday that he has left the case open while awaiting a private investigator’s report commissioned by Christensen’s sister, Natalie Parker.
“I see no reason to turn it over to the Attorney General’s office,” he told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s not a question of if we can handle the case or not. The question is if there’s enough evidence.”
An attorney for Christensen’s sister – who has filed a $20 million tort claim against the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the homicide – didn’t immediately respond when asked if the report will be sent to Meyer.
Pilar French, an attorney for Christensen’s brother, Corey Christensen, who made the request for the Washington attorney general to step in, said she has provided Inslee’s office with more information since their request for an independent review was denied. She said she hopes to convince the governor to reconsider his decision.
“Given what the family has been through, we would prefer an independent entity conduct the investigation,” she said. “Meanwhile, evidence is growing stale.”
A spokesperson for Inslee said it’s “impossible to speculate” whether the governor would later refer the case to the attorney general “if or when the prosecutor closes the case.”
