Third murder charge filed in Randle teen’s 2018 slaying

Two Kennewick residents have been arrested and charged with rending criminal assistance to Jonathon Adamson and Benito Marquez, the two suspects who have pleaded guilty to the beating death of Randle teen Benjamin Eastman III last summer.

Among the accusations leveled against Michael D. Salazar, 17, and Amanda L. Hagerty, 42, are that Salazar, after learning of Adamson and Marquez’s plan to kill Eastman, physically restrained a person who attempted to report the plan to a third party.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said in an email that the two are mother and son, and that they are the aunt and cousin to the other suspects.

Salazar was charged with first-degree murder or in the alternative second-degree murder, first-degree rendering criminal assistance and tampering with physical evidence. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said the murder charge is based on the alleged level of complicity Salazar had in the slaying.

“Our position is he facilitated the crime by preventing someone from reporting it – actively. It’s one thing if he talked them out of it, but if you hold someone down and prevent them from telling, that’s something else,” said Meyer.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on June 24, 2018, Salazar, Adamson, Marquez and some others were camping when Adamson and Marquez devised a plan to lure Eastman out of his house under the guise of a camping trip and then kill him.

Salazar and others allegedly caught wind of the plan, and when a girl said she was going to tell an adult about what the two were setting off to do, Salazar held her down and prevented her from telling anyone.

Shortly after Eastman’s death, Salazar allegedly helped them start a fire that was used to burn physical evidence by retrieving gasoline from a garage. He then helped them clean themselves off after they had allegedly beat Eastman to death.

Law enforcement had been attempting to contact Salazar again for a recorded interview, but only telephone communication occurred. A warrant was issued for his arrest and incarceration on $250,000 bail.

Meyer said Monday that the prosecutor’s office intends to file a charge of rendering criminal assistance against Hagerty for allegedly helping the two cover their tracks. The two were slated to appear in Lewis County Superior Court for preliminary hearings on Monday.

Eastman was reported missing June 27, 2018 and his body was found the next day in a shallow grave in a rural area. Court documents say brothers Jonathan Adamson and Benito Marquez invited Eastman to go camping and then beat, kicked, raped and murdered him. Both pleaded guilty to murder and rape.

Their mother and a girlfriend of one of the brothers have pleaded guilty to rendering criminal assistance.

This story was originally published July 23, 2019 at 2:50 PM.