Story Photos
 Ballistics expert Marty Hayes holds a replica gun to his head while giving testimony during a jury trial at the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis on Wednesday. Hayes said that if former Washington State Patrol trooper Ronda Reynolds killed herself, it was not possible for the gun to end up resting on her forehead as it was found. Brandon Swanson / The (Centralia) Chronicle
|
Past Month's Most Commented Stories
- Protesters hold 'tea party' in Clatskanie (185)
- Breaking news: Toledo man shoots, kills burglar (147)
- Swine flu's likely here; local supply of seasonal flu vaccine wiped out (97)
- Dozens at rally urge rejection of Referendum 71 (95)
- Voters approve Referendum 71 (91)
- Castle Rock man gets citation for killing deer within Kelso city limits (87)
- How to vote on Ref. 71 is confusing many (78)
- Gay rights supporters hoping narrow lead holds (78)
- Controversial speaker warns about 'threat of Islam' (68)
- 15-year-old arrested for alleged attempted murder (59)
Firearms expert disputes account of Reynolds suicide
Friday, November 6, 2009 4:48 PM PST
By Sharyn Decker
For The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleCHEHALIS — A firearms expert told a jury Wednesday that his tests don’t support law enforcement explanations of how former state trooper Ronda Reynolds could have shot herself in the head nearly 11 years ago.
Law enforcement reports indicate Reynolds fired the gun with her right hand. The gunshot went through a pillow into Reynolds’ head while she was lying on the floor on her left side, according to the official accounts. So why was the gun then found on Reynolds’ forehead, under the pillow? Marty Hayes asked.
“It just wasn’t logical the gunshot could go through the pillow and then somehow (the gun) came to rest beneath the pillow on her forehead,” said Marty Hayes, operator of a firearms academy in Onalaska.
Hayes took the stand in Lewis County Superior Court in which Reynolds’ mother, Barb Thompson of Spokane, is trying to overturn a coroner’s finding that Reynolds committed suicide.
Reynolds’ husband, Ron Reynolds, told investigators that he found his wife fatally shot, on the floor of her walk-in, bedroom closet under an electric blanket in their Toledo home, on the morning of Dec. 16, 1998.
Hayes was a witness for Thompson in the civil hearing being heard in the Chehalis courtroom this week. The so-called judicial review of the coroner’s determination is the first of its kind in Washington.
Hayes estimated he’d spent at least 1,000 unpaid hours assisting Thompson since 2002, when the details of the Lewis County sheriff’s investigation came to light. Thompson considers that investigation riddled with errors.
Hayes told the jury he did tests using a gun “virtually” identical to the .32 caliber revolver found at the death scene, he said.
Reynolds, according to investigators, was lying down on her left side and pointed the pistol down toward her head with pillow in between. In firing tests, Hayes said he was unable to make the gun fall on Reynolds forehead, marked by an “x” on a sand-filled model of Reynolds’ head.
“It’s inconceivable she could have shot herself with her right hand and have the gun fall forward as described by officers,” Hayes said.
Hayes was skeptical of Ron Reynolds report that he did not hear the shot, even though he was asleep in the bedroom outside the closet, about 15 feet away.
In his tests, conducted at his Onalaska home, Hayes said the sound of a gunshot, even muffled by a pillow, measured 83 to 91 decibels at 15 feet.
To put that in perspective, Hayes said that a television set at full volume measures 65 decibels, an alarm at full volume hit 62 decibels, and a telephone with the ringer turned up all the way measured 72, he said.
Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson is represented by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, who hired Olympia attorney John Justice to handle the case.
Justice asked Hayes if his tests included a blanket, a closet filled with clothing and if Hayes had ever been involved in a case like this. Hayes said no.
Thompson left the courtroom in tears when her attorney showed photos taken of Ronda Reynolds’ body taken at the scene.
After the hearing, Thompon’s attorney, Royce Ferguson of Everett, said the 12-member jury panel is hearing information that was available to the coroner years ago.
“Whether he listened to it or not, whether he considered it or not, it was available to him,” Ferguson said.
The case is in recess until Monday, when Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, a forensic pathologist who serves Yakima and nine other counties, is scheduled to testify on Monday about his review of the death.
On the Net:
Justice for Ronda: http://www.justiceforronda.com/
Related articles:
Friend testifies about night before former trooper's death (Nov. 4)
Coroner's suicide ruling in former trooper's death goes to trial (Nov. 3)
Jury to review Lewis County coroner's suicide ruiling (April 25)
Court will review suicide ruling for woman's 1998 death in Toledo (April 20)
Mom upset over AG's findings (May 2, 2002)
State upholds suicide ruling in Reynolds death (April 30, 2002)
AG concludes Reynolds' death probe (April 27, 2002)
Townspeople try to sort out truth in case (Feb. 4, 2002)
Ex-cop slams Toledo death probe (Jan. 31, 2002)
Expert calls suicide ruling 'ridiculous' (Jan. 27, 2002)
'This case was not a suicide' (Jan. 19, 2002)
Sheriff reopens death probe (Jan. 17, 2002)
sanity has returned wrote on Nov 5, 2009 7:12 AM:
IN MY OPINION wrote on Nov 5, 2009 11:28 AM:
Communityfirst wrote on Nov 8, 2009 7:29 AM:
Note: when we post a new story on the same topic, comments don't move to the new page. For comments that won't be tied to the story, try our community forum; signing up is quick and free.