TACOMA — A man accused of strangling a tribal member to death on the Hoh Reservation in December 2003 has pleaded guilty to second degree murder in federal court.
Michael W. Koch, 24, entered the plea last Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, said Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 12 by Judge Franklin Burgess.
The maximum penalty for second degree murder is life in prison and $250,000 in fines.
The killing of 18-year-old Tawnya LaVonne Tom occurred early on the morning of Dec. 20, 2003.
After a poker party at a Forks residence that ended with accusations of cheating, Koch allegedly grew irritated with Tom, who “kept repeating” a profanity.
According to the violation complaint filed later that month, Koch strangled Tom with his hands, then placed a chair on her neck and sat down.
Koch then put Tom’s body in a box, drove it to a secluded location in the woods and covered it with brush, the complaints says.
After arranging a plea agreement, Koch allegedly led investigators to the location where he had dumped Tom’s body and confessed to the crime, Langlie said.
Koch had been lodged at a federal detention center in SeaTac for about 16 months without being indicted.
Several extensions had been granted, and Koch and his attorneys had agreed to postpone the indictment, Langlie said.
The federal government is handling the case because the crime took place on a Native American reservation and Koch qualifies for enrollment in the Cowlitz tribe, Langlie said.
