Mom has daughter's death examined

Court hears petition to review suicide ruling from 1998

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published September 20, 2008

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OLYMPIA – A mother has made progress in her fight to convince the courts that her daughter's death was murder, not a suicide.

Ronda Reynolds' mother, Barbara Thompson, thinks Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson mistakenly ruled that Reynolds' 1998 death by gunshot wound was a suicide, and she has filed a petition for judicial review.

The petition is before Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks, who on Friday ordered Wilson's attorney to submit the entire record used to determine that Reynolds' death was a suicide. Hicks also ordered the county to submit any evidence that Lewis County refused to consider in ruling that the death was a suicide.

"The record should be as inclusive as possible," Hicks said.

Hicks still must determine whether it is his role as judge or a jury's role to review the accuracy of Wilson's finding. Also, Lewis County's attorneys raised the issue Friday of whether Hicks should only consider whether Wilson's death determination was "arbitrary and capricious" — a legal standard that would exclude a review of the accuracy of that determination.

Reynolds, a former state trooper, was found dead by her husband with a gunshot wound to her head Dec. 16, 1998. Wilson initially ruled her manner of death "undetermined." He changed that determination three times — first to a suicide, then back to undetermined, before settling on suicide May 30, 2002.

Attorney John Justice, who was hired by Lewis County to represent Wilson, said Friday that those changes coincided with the Lewis County Sheriff's Office reopening its investigation of Reynolds' death.

In 2006, Thompson filed for judicial review of the corner's determination. According to state law, a coroner is immune from civil liability in determining the cause and manner of a person's death. However, a 1987 amendment to state law states that the accuracy of a coroner's decision is subject to judicial review.

Reynolds' petition is the first time that the accuracy of a coroner's decision has been challenged under the amendment.

"As far as I can tell, this is a case of first impression," Hicks said.

Thompson has reports by hired forensic experts who contest Wilson's determination of a suicide. She also said that she talked to her daughter hours before she died, and she did not seem suicidal and was making plans for the future.

"There's no doubt in my mind that it was a homicide," Thompson said outside court Friday.

Thompson's hired experts take issue with what they claim are inconsistencies with suicide, judging by the position of Thompson's body where it was found in 1998, in the closet of the Toledo home she shared with her husband, Ron.

Other issues raised by the experts hired by Thompson that are contained in exhibits in court records include claims that Reynolds' time of death, the position of the closet door where the body was found and alleged inconsistencies in statements made by Ron Reynolds all do not suggest a suicide but a homicide.

Asked about the coroner's continued opposition to her version of how her daughter died, Thompson said, "They needed to save face, and I think they thought I would go away."

Thompson said she drove from her home in Spokane to Friday's hearing in Olympia.

Jeremy Pawloski covers public safety for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jpawloski@theolympian.com.