RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2011 | Vol. 87, No. 75 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
‘Dateline,’ ‘48 Hours’ looking at murder case
INSIDE: Undefeated! Sports, A10
ACCIDENTAL TOURISTS
BY BRIAN KELLY South Whidbey Record
COUPEVILLE — The 2003 Christmastime murder of a Langley man is drawing the interest of producers from two prime time television programs. Island County officials have been in contact with representatives from “Dateline,” the weekly NBC newsmagazine that centers on investigative reports, crime stories and social issues, as well as James Huden “48 Hours Mystery,” the long-running, documentary-style true-crime series on CBS. Both shows have expressed interest in covering the murder case of Russel Douglas, a Langley man who was found shot to death in his car at a property on Wahl Road after going Peggy Thomas to pick up a present for his estranged wife, Brenna Douglas. Two people have been arrested for the murder: James “Jim” Huden, a former businessman and musician who spent nearly seven years on the run as a fugitive in Mexico once police connected him to the crime; and his mistress, Peggy Sue Thomas, a one-time Ms. Washington who worked for the victim’s wife in her Langley hair salon. Authorities say Huden was the triggerman in the murder of Russel Douglas, while Thomas allegedly helped plot the killing SEE MURDER, A3
Nancy Thompson photo
Oscar Leighton Hilbert’s hand-carved totem has been raised outside Community Thrift in Freeland. Ben Watanabe / The Record
Tatsumasa Aiura, Eriko Shirai and Kosuke Otsuki were welcomed to Whidbey Island by Greenbank resident Diane Watts. They have lived in her Freeland guest house after leaving Japan because of the radiation threat left by the 9.0 earthquake in March.
Fleeing disaster in Japan, trio find home in Freeland BY BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
FREELAND — For three Japanese natives, Freeland is a long midway in an even longer journey. More than 6,000 miles and two months of traveling lay between their former homes in Fukushima Prefecture and what has become their new summer home near Holmes Harbor. Language barriers, cultural differences, financial hardship and dealing with loss were still to come. Tatsumasa Aiura, Eriko Shirai and Kosuke Otsuki have been temporary Freeland residents since June. They are part of a castaway group of 10 friends and family members from Fukushima, Japan who survived the magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11
“Young people, it’s very easy to get visas. Old people like me, it’s very hard. I need young people to work to help me.” Tatsumasa Aiura, Earthquake survivor
but have since fled the country amid fears of fallout from the failure of the nearby nuclear power plant. Aiura and Shirai were entertaining a few American guests at a mall when the earthquake hit. “I was shopping. I watched the broken building and broken windows,” Aiura said, wav-
ing his upright hands back and forth like a shaking building. Otsuki, 20, was home alone in Koriyama. Though he speaks just a little English, he didn’t need a translator to describe the quake. “Scary,” Otsuki said. A terrifying event was made worse by the weather. An unusual snowstorm hit Koriyama that Friday in March. As Aiura and Shirai fled the mall with their guests, they were blinded by the snow and could only feel what was happening in the cold. “Everybody thought it was the end of the world,” Aiura said. The blizzard lasted about five minutes, and after, the skies cleared and they took in the destruction around them. SEE TRIO, A7
Freeland will celebrate gift of totem pole BY PATRICIA DUFF South Whidbey Record
Oscar Leighton Hilbert’s handcarved thunderbird wings are once again flying high above South Whidbey. Hilbert, who lived at Mutiny Bay in Freeland before he died in 2008 at age 87, was an avid woodworker who gained some measure of fame for carving the seal that adorns the mayor’s conference room at Seattle’s city hall. During his time on South Whidbey, the artist spent much time carving a totem pole at his home in Mutiny Sands, taking great effort to mimic the artistic style of the Haida Indians. More than a generation old, the pole was donated by Hilbert’s children to Community Thrift a few years ago. It’s since been restored and raised outside the Freeland store with help from members of the community. A celebration is planned for 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19. Hilbert had great respect for Pacific Northwest coastal Indian art and became an accomplished carver. “His home was built in the shape of a teepee,” said Community Thrift employee Annie Carson. SEE TOTEM, A6