Mom's Quest Gets Wash. Judge to Review Daughter's 1998 Suicide Finding
In 1987, legislators in Washington state changed the law to make coroner’s findings subject to judicial review. Now, for the first time, that law is being applied, in a mother’s quest to overturn a ruling that her daughter committed suicide in 1998.
Ronda Reynolds was found dead in a closet in the family home, after her husband called 911 to report her apparent suicide in 1998, reports the Seattle Times. But neither her mother nor the primary investigator in the Lewis County case was convinced; both believe the gunshot to the head that killed Reynolds was a homicide, the newspaper reports.
Local authorities steadfastly contend that the death was a suicide, however, and a coroner’s finding of suicide helped stymie the investigation, until recently.
Supported by experts who see the case the same way she does, Barb Thompson is going before a judge brought in from another county to argue that the ruling should be changed. An expected issue at the outset will be whether the judge should simply look at the same evidence the coroner saw at the time of the suicide determination, or should look at new evidence developed since then.
No one believes that authorities are intentionally suppressing evidence. However, there are allegations that the investigation of Reynolds’ death was mishandled and that authorities hence are not eager to see the case in the public eye. When the state attorney general’s office looked into the case in 2006, though, it also determined that the suicide finding was correct.
Even if the death certificate is changed, that won’t necessarily close the case: “I can tell you beyond a reasonable doubt my daughter was murdered, but I cannot tell you beyond a reasonable doubt who killed her,” Thompson tells the newspaper. But once the case is steered back on track, if the suicide ruling is overturned, “I have to say my job is done.”
