Battle Ground man appears in court, accused of murdering Brush Prairie resident in his home
A Battle Ground man accused of killing a 73-year-old Brush Prairie man appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court.
Brian Kangas, 34, appeared on an allegation of second-degree murder in the slaying of Gary Bender. However, the hearing was set over to Thursday. Kangas is being held without bail in the meantime.
Shortly after 11 a.m., a caller to 911 reported hearing at least three gunshots coming from Bender's property in the 19700 block of Northeast 104th Circle. Bender's wife had also run to that neighbor's home in distress, saying she believed someone had been shot, according to court records.
She told the neighbor a man came to the couple's home. Bender stayed with the man while his wife went to another residence on the property. Shortly after, she said she heard gunshots, court records state.
Another neighbor reported seeing a man leave on a bicycle after the shooting and provided a description to authorities.
Clark County sheriff's deputies found Bender dead, seated in a recliner in the living room of a guest house on the property. His shirt was reportedly soaked in blood. Deputies located two fired cartridge cases nearby on the floor, according to court records.
A patrol deputy found Kangas riding a bicycle near Northeast 182nd Avenue and Risto Road. Upon his arrest, deputies found Kangas had a Ruger LCP .380 ACP semiautomatic pistol. Deputies took the gun into evidence. It had one cartridge of ammunition chambered and two in its magazine, court records state.
A sheriff's sergeant noted Kangas has a history of mental illness, based on recent patrol calls involving him.
Bender's wife told detectives the couple had been renovating the main residence. He had been working in the kitchen while she worked in another part of the house. She heard her husband speaking with a man who sounded out of breath. When asked who he was, the man initially responded, "You know who I am," but then identified himself as Kangas, according to court records.
Bender's wife told detectives she later saw her husband in a recliner with Kangas standing over him. She said she didn't have her hearing aids in and couldn't hear what they were talking about, but "it appeared serious," according to court records.
She told detectives she heard three gunshots shortly after and ran to her neighbor's home and asked him to call 911. She told detectives she did not see the shooting.
When deputies stopped Kangas, he told them Bender had threatened him "really badly" and refused to discuss the incident further, according to court records.
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