A Portland man pleaded not guilty Friday to shooting, reportedly because he suspected she was cheating on him, at his girlfriend of 11 years and two of her friends at a Vancouver apartment May 31. He reportedly drove another girlfriend’s car to the crime scene.
McQuay Postol, 31, entered a not guilty plea in Clark County Superior Court to six charges: two counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree assault of a child.
Judge Suzan Clark scheduled his trial for Oct. 6. He remains in Clark County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Postol and his 31-year-old girlfriend, who lives in Portland, had argued throughout the day about accusations that she was cheating on him, according to a court affidavit by Vancouver police Officer Sandra Aldridge.
He dropped her off at a friend’s apartment at a Mill Plain Boulevard apartment complex near downtown, but returned that night, shouting at her from the apartment’s parking lot to come outside, the affidavit says. In addition to Postol’s girlfriend, the apartment was occupied by another woman, that woman’s boyfriend, and their toddler son.
When the shouting started, the man in the apartment went to the door and attempted to calm Postol. But Postol pulled out a firearm, according to court records. Afraid he would be shot, the man ran inside the apartment where the two women and the toddler were. They heard two gunshots and dropped to the floor, Aldridge wrote. They then heard Postol drive away in what investigators believe was a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria belonging to Postol’s other girlfriend.
Postol was already wanted in a third-degree theft case from 2012 but has no other criminal history, said Deputy Prosecutor Julie Carmena.
Court records indicate that Postol and the victim have a child together, but Postol is prohibited from contacting her and the other two victims while his case is pending.
Detectives have previously asked that the names of the victims not be published, for fear that Postol’s associates may seek revenge, said Kim Kapp, a Vancouver police spokeswoman.
