John Michael West appears Tues. May 9, 2017, in Clark County Superior Court in connection with the robbery and fatal shooting of Raymond Brandon, whose body was found last month in a Hockinson area shed. (Ariane Kunze/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
Two more people allegedly involved in the robbery and fatal shooting of a man whose body was found in a Hockinson shed last month were in court Tuesday.
John Michael West, 43, and Ashley L. Wideman, 23, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping. West is facing charges of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in the slaying of Raymond C. Brandon.
Another co-defendant, 39-year-old Neil Allen Alway, is also accused of first-degree murder. He and a fourth co-defendant, Ashley Lorraine Barry, 31, are both facing allegations of first-degree robbery and first-degree kidnapping. They appeared in court Monday morning.
All of the accused are reportedly transients.
During the Tuesday hearing, Wideman denied being involved or knowing the other co-defendants.
Multiple probable cause affidavits filed in the case give the following account:
During the last week of April, several family members contacted the Clark County Sheriff’s Office to report Brandon, 34, missing. The family had been told by Brandon’s girlfriend, Allison Fields, that he was assaulted and then shot April 20 by two men and a woman. Fields identified Alway and Barry as being involved in the killing.
Fields told detectives she had been dating Brandon for about nine months. She said that for about two weeks every morning, the couple had been going to a house at 15308 N.E. 172nd Ave., southeast of Hockinson High School, to shower and eat breakfast.
Shortly after they arrived there April 20, Alway, Barry, West and his girlfriend, Wideman, came into the room and ordered Fields and Brandon to take off their clothes. Alway pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at both of them.
Fields later learned that Alway was sent to collect money from Brandon, she said, because he had used someone else’s money to get their silver Subaru Forester out of impound after it was towed the month before.
Alway and West then took Brandon outside. Fields was ordered to sit on her knees in the house with Barry and Wideman.
Fields said she believed she could hear Alway hitting Brandon with the pistol and Brandon screaming. She then heard a loud gunshot, and the screaming stopped.
Alway and West ran back inside in a panic and said they all had to leave quickly. Alway zip-tied Fields’ hands and led her outside, where Barry broke the driver’s side window of the Subaru and unsuccessfully tried to start it without the keys. Fields told investigators, “Alway wanted to take the Subaru from them to settle Ray’s debt,” court records state.
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A resident at the house drove the group and Fields in a white Jeep SUV to “the farm” on Northeast 119th Street in Vancouver, and dropped them off. West later returned that day and told her not to contact law enforcement.
Fields said Alway was talking about feeding Brandon’s body to the pigs at “the farm.”
When they arrived there, Barry cut Fields’ zip ties and told her not to cry or she would be killed, adding that the only reason she was not dead already was because Barry knew Fields’ father.
Alway wanted to get the window repaired on the Subaru, so Fields told him her father already had a window to replace it. He agreed to take Fields to her father, and while looking for him, drove to her grandmother’s house. Fields’ father was outside so she ran toward him, and the others fled, keeping the Subaru and her tablet computer.
On April 25, a Vancouver police officer arrested Alway and Barry on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, a Jeep Wrangler. Alway was in possession of a black .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun and was charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon.
In an interview with detectives, Barry initially denied knowing Brandon or ever meeting him. However, she later gave a similar account to Fields’ and said the group had been lying in wait for Brandon to arrive at the house.
Alway denied being involved in the shooting, saying he was on the other side of the yard trying to get his Jeep out of the mud. He also said that West had been carrying the gun found in Alway’s possessions and that he learned about Brandon’s death from the newspaper.
Two days later, Clark County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Hockinson house for a report of a body found on the property.
A witness reported that she heard rumors that Brandon had been shot in the shed of the residence, went there and spoke with a man who lived there. The resident denied knowing anything about the incident, but gave the witness permission to search the property. She found Brandon’s body in the shed and called 911.
The Clark County Medical Examiner identified the victim as Brandon and classified his death a homicide. He suffered a gunshot wound to his chest from a .40 caliber firearm.
Wideman told detectives she knew Brandon was dead and that his body was in the shed, but she didn’t call 911.
Fields later told investigators that she had been hiding at a friend’s house since the incident and was afraid Alway and Barry would hurt her. She heard Alway had been kicking in doors around town looking for her. She agreed to speak with law enforcement only after she learned Alway and Barry had been arrested, she said, because she wanted Brandon’s body to be found and receive a proper burial.
On Tuesday, Judge Derek Vanderwood set bail for West at $2 million, the same amount set Monday for Alway, and bail for Wideman at $100,000. Barry’s bail was set at $250,000 on Monday.
The group is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
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