CIVIL SUIT FILED AGAINST
MOTHER OF DEAD WOMAN ASKING JUDGE TO
REVIEW RULING ON DEATH
Sharyn Decker
Police, Fire and Court reporter
The Chronicle
The mother of a
Barb Thompson has been working since her daughter, former Washington State
Patrol trooper Ronda Reynolds, died to persuade authorities it was not a
suicide. The filing, called a petition
for judicial review and extraordinary writs, requests a judicial review of
Reynolds was 33 years old and married to Ron Reynolds, principal of
"Hopefully this will accomplish something," Thompson said in a brief
telephone interview on Friday evening from her home in
Errors plagued the investigation, including neglecting to check Ron Reynolds'
hands for evidence he had fired a gun, meaning it was harder to clear him of
suspicion.
The case was closed as a suicide by the Lewis County Sheriff's Office in May
1999, under protest by the lead investigator, former detective Jerry Berry.
Thompson convinced then-Sheriff John McCroskey to
reopen the case in 2001 and Coroner Wilson changed the manner of death to
undetermined. Expert opinions have
varied, with some certain the woman was murdered and some certain she took her
own life.
In April 2002, investigators with the state Attorney General's Office reviewed
evidence given to them by the sheriff's office and agreed the death should be
classified as a suicide. And so
Wilson, who is running for his seventh term as elected coroner, could not be
reached for comment.
The bulk of the 60-page filing is an analysis of the case by former police
officer Marty Hayes. Hayes is seeking to unseat
Thompson said she met with new Sheriff Steve Mansfield and then this spring
with
"I don't want Ronda's case to be part of an election," she said.
"That was not my choice. That was not my wish."