Though the primary suspect of a downtown homicide is deceased, Vancouver detectives are asking for the public’s help gathering information on a possible accomplice.
Police say that Thomas Phillip Leae, 21, of Renton is a person of interest in the Nov. 25 slaying of Bentley Brookes, a 58-year-old Camas man who worked at Pacific Bullion Precious Metals, 701 Main St., in downtown Vancouver.
“We believe he was driving the getaway car,” Vancouver police Det. Lawrence Zapata said.
Leae was the boyfriend of 18-year-old Ailiana Fualilia Siufanua of Des Moines, the agency’s primary suspect in the case, Zapata said. He is hoping to get people to come forward with information on Leae’s whereabouts from Nov. 18 to 30. Leae was seen driving a silver 1999 Honda Accord, Washington plate AND8486, in the days surrounding Brookes’ death, police said.
Zapata said that about a week before the discovery of Brookes’ body, Leae was seen at the store with Siufanua selling some sort of coin.
“We’re trying to talk to people and find out what they were doing here and why they pushed on from Vancouver to north California,” Zapata said.
Brookes was found dead by a customer at about 11:45 a.m. on Nov. 25, according to Vancouver police. He died from a gunshot wound, investigators said.
Video surveillance in the store captured the female homicide suspect, and police circulated the images to media and police agencies in seven states. Zapata said that decision was partially to identify the woman, but also out of worry that she’d commit another violent crime.
The parents of Siufanua came forward on Nov. 30 to identify their daughter as the woman in the surveillance footage.
“They came down to do the hard thing and say ‘that was our daughter in the photographs,’ ” Zapata said.
Later that evening, however, Siufanua died in a car crash following a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 5 near Sacramento, Calif.
She was a passenger in car driven by Leae that went out of control and crashed into a tree, killing Siufanua and seriously injuring, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Following the crash, Zapata went to California to talk to Leae, though Zapata did not interview Leae partially because Leae was on pain medications. But, the trip did benefit the case.
“It becomes a question of, is he thinking clearly? Can he make sound decisions?” Zapata said. “We did collect what we believe to be strong evidence related to the murder of Bentley Brookes.”
Leae remains at the UC Davis Medical Center in good condition where Zapata said he has been surrounded by guards.
Zapata said that he believes robbery is the motive in Brookes’ death, but that he’s still working to piece together the couple’s connection to Vancouver. He is hoping to speak with anyone who saw or spoke with Leae in the week leading up to Brookes’ death to help paint a better picture of what led the couple to be sought in connection to homicide.
