At slaying site, ‘It is possible for us to heal’

MATT BATCHELDOR; The Olympian | • Published November 24, 2009

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OLYMPIA – More than 100 people gathered to remember Shaun Allen Peterson at noon Monday, just footsteps away from where the 40-year-old Olympia man was found dead a week ago.

“Today, we come together,” said the Rev. Carol McKinley, “affirming that it is possible for us to heal.”

Peterson died of multiple gunshot wounds about 2:43 a.m. on Nov. 16 in the 1700 block of Capitol Way. Multiple shell casings littered the road. Police are looking for a man they believe to be the killer – Robert J. Maddaus, 40, of Rochester. They have a warrant for his arrest on first-degree murder charges.

In the meantime, Monday’s short service was about reclaiming a scene of violence as a place of peace, said McKinley. Her group, Interfaith Works, organizes a “moment of blessing” for every homicide victim in Thurston County, at the place where the person lost his or her life. McKinley said she thinks this is the largest such gathering ever.

“We’re here at every one,” she said after the service, “whether it’s a vacant lot in Yelm or a trailer park in Grand Mound.

“You see the impact that a person has had on friends.”

Family, friends and neighbors had a chance to share their impressions of someone who was to them a son, a father, a husband, a friend. They slightly touched on his troubles – Peterson had a criminal record with more than 50 court cases and a methamphetamine addiction. But they described him as a lovable man who had a hard time digging his way out of the hole he had fallen into.

Larry Ostland, the uncle of Peterson’s 11-year-old son, Josh, lived with the boy while Peterson had trouble with the law. But Peterson was part of his son’s life.

“I was the one who supervised his visits with Josh,” Ostland said. “He had a loving heart. He had a really loving heart, and he loved his son.”

Josh spoke briefly. “He may have done some wrong, but he was still my dad,” he said.

Others remembered him as a happy-go-lucky person, always willing to help.

“He lived with me for three years, and I was there when Peterson was clean,” said Rainy Ashing of Puyallup, an ex-girlfriend of Peterson.

“I loved him with everything in me and I still do.”

Terri Noble, volunteer chaplain for the Olympia Police Department, shared in the family’s grief, saying her own son was murdered in 2004. She prayed: “Lord, we just ask you here today to send your spirit and peace.”

Toward the end of the service, a man shouted out, “Love you, Shaun Peterson!” Others echoed him.

Peterson’s mother, Judy, spoke last. “Thank you for coming, and we all loved him.”