Four 2015 homicide cases — two in Clark County, two in Vancouver — remain open investigations, though police say at least one case is close to being concluded.
The first homicide investigation of 2015 launched on Jan. 2, when a boater found the body of Jessica Newton, 40, washed up on the western shoreline of Bachelor Island near Ridgefield. Newton, a transient, died of homicidal violence and investigators think she died in late December 2014.
Another homicide was reported on July 1, 2015 when loggers found the body of Robert Lee Huggins, 56. The Portland man’s body was lying in an open field about 100 feet south of Northeast 179th Street near 15th Avenue.
Investigators said they believe Huggins’ body was dumped in the field rather than the death occurring at the scene. Huggins had a criminal history in Multnomah County, Ore., including an arrest on a reckless driving warrant in 2012 and suspicion of violating parole in 1997.
Clark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Barsness, the head of the sheriff’s major crime team, said recently he wouldn’t give any new details on either case except to say that they are both still active investigations.
“It’s not easy for us to have open cases, it’s not easy for the victims and it’s not easy for the community,” he said. “But the reality is it takes time to build a case … we have the responsibility to put forth the strongest case possible.”
The Vancouver Police Department also investigated two homicides last year. Both investigations, which remain open, were led by Detective Lawrence Zapata.
On May 9, police found the body of Sharon Allison in a large blue recycling bin inside her apartment at Columbia House in Uptown Village. She died from what police have called homicidal violence.
The 66-year-old woman, who had mental and physical disabilities, was last seen alive on May 8 talking to an unidentified man in the hallway of her apartment building.
“It’s always tragic when something like that happens,” Zapata said. “But when it’s a child or elderly (person), it has a little different effect, maybe a little deeper effect.”
He called this case “a true whodunit,” forcing him to look at the investigation from a lot of different angles.
“We’re currently pursuing a lead on a suspect,” he said. “Hopefully, that will end up with an arrest in the near future.”
The second homicide case he investigated last year is near to being closed.
On the day before Thanksgiving, Bentley Brookes, a 58-year-old Camas man, was found shot to death at his workplace, Pacific Bullion Precious Metals, 701 Main St.
Two days later, police released a surveillance photo of a suspect, later identified as 18-year-old Ailiana Fualilia Siufanua, from the Seattle suburb of Des Moines.
On Nov. 30, Siufanua died in a car crash after a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 5 near Sacramento, Calif. The driver of the vehicle was Thomas Phillip Leae, 21, of Renton, whom Vancouver police say they think was the getaway driver in the Bentley homicide.
“(The investigation) took an interesting turn when our main suspect was involved in that vehicle pursuit and crash, then died,” Zapata said. “At about the same time frame, her boyfriend came into our radar.”
“We’ve been working that angle of the case regarding his involvement,” Zapata said. “We feel we’re close to charging him in the Bentley Brookes robbery-murder.”
Zapata said that even when he’s not working the investigations, he’s thinking about closing both of those cases.
“They’re always in the back of your mind,” he said. “I’m kind of eager to get back to doing that work.”
