Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008

2 Moses Lake explosions being investigated as homicides

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

MOSES LAKE -- Two explosions that killed two men within hours of each other earlier this month near Moses Lake are now being investigated as homicides.

Pipe bombs apparently were used to kill William Arleigh Walker, 69, and Javier Martinez Adame, 53, said Grant County Undersheriff John Turley.

Walker was found dead from an explosion in a shop behind his home Aug. 2 in what was initially thought to have been a possible car battery explosion.

Adame was killed around 12:30 a.m. Aug. 3 when a pipe bomb exploded in his kitchen.

The timing of the two explosions -- they happened within 10 hours of each other and about six miles apart -- left law enforcement officials wondering if they were connected.

A detective with the Washington State Patrol and special agents with the FBI Emergency Response Team were called in to help investigate.

The deaths are being investigated as homicides because similar explosive devices were found in both cases, Turley said.

Initially, investigators thought Adame was handling a pipe bomb when it exploded, but "after we brought in ATF, we changed our opinion on that," Turley said.

A pipe bomb that destroyed a truck in Soap Lake last month is believed to have been a different style explosive, he said.

The sheriff's office still is waiting on an analysis of evidence sent to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lab in Concord, Calif.

Meanwhile, Walker's widow and family still are trying to deal with his death.

"It's just tough wondering who killed your husband," Dorothy Walker said Monday. "It just really makes me bitter that somebody would want to do that. He really is a good man."

The family has had a memorial service for the retired electrician and Dorothy Walker said she just picked up her husband's ashes. The ashes are going to be buried in Ohio, which is where William told her several months ago that he wanted to be when he died, she said.

Dorothy Walker said she can't figure out how her husband's death is connected to Adame's death. She has no idea who would have targeted her husband.

She's hoping for a quick resolution -- not only for her family, but also for the community. Walker said she's never been afraid in her home but now she is.

"Every time I start my car, I wonder," she said. "It's just kind of a fear. Everybody's been starting my car for me."

Undersheriff Turley said he doesn't think there's any reason for the community to be alarmed, but he cautioned that if anyone comes across a suspicious item or package they should not touch it and immediately call police.

The Adame family could not be reached for comment Monday.

Anyone with information about the homicides is asked to call the Major Crimes Unit of the sheriff's office and speak to Detective Ryan Rectenwald or Detective Kim Cook at 754-2011, ext. 468, desk extensions 16 or 17.

w Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com