By Kip Hill
The Spokesman-Review
SPOKANE, Wash. — More than 100 feet of torn bedsheets were hung last month from a Spokane County Jail cell occupied by accused murder-for-hire mastermind James Henrikson, federal prosecutors say.
Officials initially would not say in whose cell the rope had originated. It was discovered Aug. 20 by jail staff and workers at the YMCA on Monroe Street.
But responding to a request last week to push back the trial date for Henrikson, who has been indicted for his alleged role in the December 2013 shooting death of Doug Carlile, the U.S. attorney’s office for Eastern Washington said jail staff “kicked the Defendant out of its facility based on this,” followed by a photo of the rope anchored inside the cell.
“The United States Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshal’s Office played no part in the decision to remove Defendant Henrikson from the Spokane County Jail,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Aine Ahmed. “It was a decision made by the Spokane County jail, which based on a contract houses federal inmates.”
U.S. District Court Judge Salvador Mendoza denied the defense’s request for a continuance following a hearing Tuesday in Richland. Mendoza also denied a request from Henrikson’s defense team to return him to Spokane pending trial, scheduled to begin Oct. 5.
Henrikson was moved from the Spokane County Jail about a week after the rope was discovered and is in the Yakima County Jail. Henrikson’s cellmate in Spokane, Bud Ray Brown, remains in the Spokane County Jail. Brown is facing a first-degree murder charge in the December 2012 death of David Brandon Deponte.
Federal prosecutors say the rope incident, initially identified as an escape attempt, remains under investigation. They cite a jail guard who said she walked by the cell Henrikson and Brown shared multiple times and that Henrikson continually blocked her view inside. When she ordered Henrikson to move, Brown – sitting on a bed – smiled, according to court records.
Authorities believe the window of the cell was smashed with a broken broom handle, which was then dropped from the window, where it hit a car below, according to court records. The window is less than 5 inches wide, according to jail staff.
Henrikson’s defense attorneys cited continuing media coverage of the alleged escape attempt and of Carlile’s death in a request for a change of venue last week. Multiple potential jurors mentioned they had seen at least some coverage in the media.
Mendoza is scheduled to rule on the request for a change of venue next week in Spokane.
Henrikson, Timothy Suckow, Robert Delao, Todd Bates, Lazaro Pesina and Robby Wahrer all face multiple criminal counts alleging involvement in murder-for-hire and drug activities. Henrikson and Suckow have also been indicted for their alleged roles in the death of Kristopher “K.C.” Clarke, an oil field employee of Henrikson’s who has been missing since 2012. His body has not been located.