Bail raised on accused shooter
OLYMPIA - A man accused of fatally shooting Shaun Allen Peterson outside a Capitol Way residence Nov. 16 is a "big-money" drug dealer who was arrested Friday in Lewis County while riding in a Corvette carrying about three pounds of methamphetamine, a half-pound of cocaine and a quarter-pound of heroin, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Police also found in the Corvette a backpack that belonged to the accused killer, Robert J. Maddaus, containing $15,000 to $20,000 in cash, Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Bruneau said. Police also found a wig that Maddaus might have been using to change his appearance and evade capture, Bruneau said.
Bruneau talked about the new information regarding the circumstances of Maddaus’ arrest during a court hearing Tuesday.
Bruneau was trying to persuade Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy to increase Maddaus’ bail to $3 million as he awaits trial on a first-degree murder charge and other charges connected to Peterson’s homicide. Bruneau said witnesses in the case are frightened of Maddaus, and that there is an interest in protecting them before the disposition of Maddaus’ case.
“We have a real, bona fide public-safety concern,” Bruneau said.
Murphy increased Maddaus’ bail from $1 million to $2 million at the end of Tuesday’s hearing.
Maddaus’ attorney, Richard Woodrow, had objected to increasing Maddaus’ bail.
According to court papers, Maddaus, 48, “was angered by the theft of drugs or money from him” before Peterson’s slaying outside a Capitol Way residence. Peterson, 40, had been handcuffed before he was shot several times and left dead on Capitol Way early on Nov. 16.
But Woodrow said in court that only the word of a single witness named in court papers identifies Maddaus as the person who killed Peterson. Maddaus accused Peterson of stealing drugs from him before the shooting, the witness states in the papers.
Bruneau said Maddaus will face between 40 and 50 years in prison if he is convicted in Peterson’s slaying.
Maddaus has six prior felony convictions, including two counts of second-degree assault while armed with a deadly weapon in 1993 and a 1995 conviction for possession with intent to distribute illegal narcotics while armed with a deadly weapon.
The Olympia Police Department is still looking for Falyn Grimes, 26, and Daniel Leville, 39, on outstanding arrest warrants on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine in connection with the case. Olympia police found meth in a home in the 1800 block of Capitol Way where Peterson was interrogated by Maddaus shortly before the slaying, court records say. Grimes and Leville live at the home; it is unclear from court records whether they were at the residence during the alleged interrogation of Peterson by Maddaus.
Grimes and Leville were not at their home when Olympia police executed the search warrants there and found the meth, court records state.
Maddaus has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder while armed with a deadly weapon, two counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, second-degree assault while armed with a deadly weapon and second-degree kidnapping while armed with a deadly weapon.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465
jpawloski@theolympian.com
This story was originally published December 2, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bail raised on accused shooter."