RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2011 | Vol. 87, No. 71 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
OFFICIALS STAY MUM ON THIRD SUSPECT IN MURDER
Documents show county has had more than two suspects since 2005 BY BRIAN KELLY South Whidbey Record
Though only two people have been arrested in the 2003 murder of Russel Douglas, Island County law enforcement officials have long suspected that three people were involved in the Christmastime killing of the former Langley resident. According to documents obtained by the South Whidbey Record, some authorities have believed since 2005 that there was sufficient evidence to charge three people R. Douglas with felony murder in the death of Douglas. So far, only two people have been arrested for Douglas’ murder, and local law enforcement officials have been careful to avoid publicly acknowledging whether others may have been involved. James “Jim” Huden, the accused triggerman, has been sitting in an Island County jail cell since late June, after he was plucked from his hideaway life on the lam in Veracruz, Mexico, and federal marshals returned him to Washington state on an arrest warrant that was issued in May 2005. Peggy Sue Thomas was booked into Island County jail last month. She also faces a premeditated, first-degree murder charge after allegedly luring Douglas to the remote Freeland property where he was shot in the head. Island County
Brian Kelly / The Record
Peggy Sue Thomas listens to her attorney, Craig Platt, after her bailrelease hearing on Friday.
Thomas released on bail BY BRIAN KELLY South Whidbey Record
COUPEVILLE — It was quite a birthday present for Peggy Sue Thomas. An Island County Superior Court judge agreed to release the accused murderer and former beauty queen on bail Friday. Judge Alan Hancock agreed to a request from Thomas’ attorney to
Prosecutor Greg Banks has been repeatedly asked by reporters since Huden’s arrest in Mexico, and again after Thomas was arrested, if there are other suspects or “persons of interest” in the case. Banks has consistently declined to name or even comment on the possible involvement of others in the murder. That continued this week, when Banks was
allow her release from the county jail after she posted a $500,000 property bond. The bond was secured by a property owned by Thomas in Las Vegas, Nev. that is worth $331,320 and another owned by her mother, Doris Matz, in Langley that has a market value of $231,924.
asked about records that say three people were involved. (The documents obtained by the Record only mention Huden’s name, and do not state the names of the other two that investigators believed were involved.) “Everybody keeps asking me about the third suspect. I have to be pretty careful,” Banks said Thursday. “She’s not charged and she has
SEE BAIL, A18
those rights as an individual. “If we don’t have enough to charge her, I don’t see any point in dragging her name through the mud,” he said.
Sound of silence The silent treatment isn’t exactly new in the case, however, as authorities have been taking that
approach for years. Officials did not say Huden or Thomas were suspects in August 2004 when police asked for the public’s help in finding the pair. Instead, police said at the time they were only wanted because they might know something about the case. That announcement came after detectives had searched Thomas’ home in Henderson, Nev. and seized evidence, and interviewed Huden in Punta Gorda, Fla., where Huden told detectives he had visited Whidbey during Christmastime 2003 and had met with Douglas to give him a Christmas gift. Detectives had been told the month before, by a friend of Huden’s, that Huden had admitted killing a man on Whidbey with a .380-caliber handgun during his visit to the island. A story on the Record’s website that said the police wanted to find the pair led to a call the next day from the sheriff’s office in Doña Ana County, N.M., where deputies said a retired police officer had turned in a Bersa .380-caliber pistol that he thought had been used to kill Douglas. Detectives quickly learned that Huden had given the gun to the tipster for safekeeping, and before the end of August, the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab had matched Huden’s gun to the murder. Police officially named Huden as a suspect in the murder in September. He had last been seen at a SEE SUSPECTS, A15
INSIDE: Fall preview, Sports, A7-A11
No way around it: Ferry fares will go up BY BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
CLINTON — Ferry riders are grudgingly accepting the upcoming increase in ferry fares. Ferry riders across the state, including those who use the ClintonMukilteo route, will pay 25 cents more per fare starting Oct. 1. The increase will help pay for new ferries. Additionally, general fares will increase 2.5 percent. It’s the first of two increases — the second, a 3 percent increase, takes effect May 1, 2012. Riders aren’t thrilled with the higher fares, but said there’s not much they can do besides open their wallets. “I think they could probably charge whatever they want,” Bob Bissett said as he sat in the ferry cafeteria, enjoying a beer, heading toward Mukilteo. Bissett said he travels on the ferry a few times a month for work. As a construction worker from Monroe, he saw the options other than taking the ferry as too costly, even with the increased fares. “Even if I worked here every day, I’d still take the ferry,” Bissett said. He estimated it costs him $25 to travel from Monroe to his work sites on Whidbey Island, including gas and ferry fares. To travel around by driving north to Deception Pass, he figured the cost would double to $50. “We still save money,” Bissett said. “You’ve got to pay, one way or another. If you want the convenience of sitting on the ferry, you can make that choice.” The cost to travel one way from Clinton to Mukilteo on Oct. 1 will be $7.60 for a standard vehicle, based on the immediate fare increases. Another change may benefit smallcar commuters. To maximize ferry deck usage, the Washington State Transportation Commission created a new category for cars less than 14 feet; drivers of those vehicles will pay 70 percent of the standard vehicle fare by 2013. SEE FARES, A18