PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man and an Agnew woman accused of assisting double-murder suspect John Francis Loring in February will be arraigned in Clallam County Superior Court today.
Thomas Lee Dale, 38, and Tami Michelle Petersen, 40, were charged Wednesday with first-degree rendering criminal assistance to Loring, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as a SWAT team surrounded him in a west Port Angeles apartment Feb. 22.
Police said Loring killed Raymond Varney, 68, and David Randle, 19.
Dale and Petersen will be arraigned at 1:30 p.m.
Defense attorney Harry Gasnick on Monday filed motions for the court to review findings of probable cause in both cases.
A Clallam County Superior Court judge will consider those motions at today’s arraignments.
Petersen also was charged Wednesday with second-degree theft and three counts of forgery for allegedly using Varney’s credit card to purchase liquor and other items Feb. 21.
Credit card use
Sheriff’s investigators alleged that Petersen bought cigarettes, gasoline, alcohol, a lottery ticket and food from a Carlsborg gas station by forging Varney’s signature in transactions of $22.64 and $46.51.
Investigators said Petersen also bought $55.40 worth of liquor and lottery tickets from a Sequim liquor store by forging Varney’s signature on an electronic pad.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict has said Petersen and Dale were both friends of Loring’s. Deputies arrested the suspects last Friday.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood set Petersen’s bail at $25,000 and Dale’s at $35,000 in their preliminary court appearances Monday.
Petersen is free on a bail bond she posted Tuesday.
Dale remained in custody at the Clallam County jail Thursday afternoon.
Shootings
Authorities alleged that after Loring killed Varney in Varney’s Diamond Point residence on or about Feb. 16, he fatally shot Randle at Randle’s Dungeness residence Feb. 21 and drove away in Varney’s pickup.
Witnesses said Randle attempted to block Loring from entering the house to protect his mother.
According to the certification of probable cause, Petersen received a phone call from a man saying Loring had shot and killed Randle.
Petersen allegedly relayed the information to Dale and Loring, and told them that Loring had to leave her property.
Investigators said Dale then drove Loring to Port Angeles and returned to help Petersen move Varney’s pickup to a rural location about 3 miles south of her home.
“At no time did Petersen make any attempts to contact law enforcement to report the whereabouts of the vehicle or the murder suspect,” Deputy James McLaughlin wrote in his report.
In both cases, McLaughlin wrote, Petersen and Dale knowingly moved or concealed evidence that was involved in a crime, knowing their actions would “hinder or delay” the apprehension of Loring and the discovery of the pickup.
First-degree rendering criminal assistance, second-degree theft and forgery are each Class C felonies punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
