Local News

The Olympian

A man diagnosed with schizophrenia pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder Tuesday in connection with the stabbing of his girlfriend in her Lacey apartment Nov. 5.

Alexander Althauser, 35, pleaded not guilty to the charge during his video arraignment before Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon.

Althauser is accused of stabbing his girlfriend five times in her apartment in the 5600 block of College Street after she tried to prevent him from getting into bed with her 10-year-old daughter, according to court papers.

She and her daughter barricaded themselves in a bedroom, court papers state, and the woman passed out during a 911 call. The woman was initially admitted to the intensive care unit at Providence St. Peter Hospital, but she has since been released.

Althauser was being held at the Thurston County Jail Tuesday, with bail set at $1 million.

The Associated Press

Lacey police are investigating a dead body found Wednesday afternoon inside a tent in a wooded area off the 5800 block of Martin Way, across from and past the Regal Cinemas.

A person walking on a trail in the area found the body about 1:30 p.m., Lacey Police Cmdr. Jim Mack said. The body inside the tent is badly decomposed, and investigators are not sure whether it is a man or a woman, Mack said.

It is too early to say whether the deceased is a victim of foul play, Mack added. The Thurston County coroner and Lacey detectives were on scene Wednesday afternoon investigating.

UPDATE, 1:48 P.M.:

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office says a wolf hybrid that escaped from its owner’s kennel Friday near Lacey and attacked his German shepherd has been tranquilized and returned to its kennel.

Lt. Greg Elwin said deputies were prepared to shoot the 140-pound animal if it got out of a neighbor’s fenced yard.

He said the owner used raw meat to lure it into a portable kennel. The wolf hybrid was trying to chew its way out of the portable kennel when a Fish and Wildlife agent arrived and shot it with a tranquilizer gun.

Elwin said the animal is legal because it’s a hybrid, although it was described as 98 percent wolf.

The German shepherd that was attacked is OK.

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The Associated Press

LACEY — Thurston County deputies are trying to capture a domesticated wolf that escaped from a home and attacked a neighbor’s dog Friday morning near Lacey.

Lt. Greg Elwin says the wolf is confined in a backyard. Deputies are trying to snare it or lure it back into a kennel with food.

If the animal tries to leave the fenced yard, deputies are prepared to kill it.

Elwin described the animal as a hybrid that’s 98 percent wolf.

The Associated Press

LACEY — Authorities in Thurston County have arrested a man they believe is responsible for fatally stabbing one woman and gravely injuring another man in the Lacey area.

The Olympian reports that a 67-year-old man who uses a wheelchair was found stabbed in the neck in his home before 3 p.m. Monday. While police were investigating, they discovered a second stabbing victim at another location just before 5 p.m.

Thurston County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Brady says the man in the wheelchair was in critical condition at Providence St. Peter Hospital.

Brady said deputies were called to the first scene after a woman went to the man’s home to return a lost dog she believed might belong to the owner. She saw the man lying on the ground with what appeared to be a stab wound to the neck.

The man in custody is reportedly the son of the female victim.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Authorities say a 3-year-old boy’s body was found in southwestern Montana and a Lacey man has been detained after a convenience-store clerk saw  him washing blood off his clothes.

Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Attorney Ben Krakowka says the 38-year-old man is being held on a disorderly-conduct charge while police investigate the boy’s death.

The man was arrested Monday night after a clerk reported a man in a convenience-store restroom trying to wash blood off his body and clothes.

A statement by the Montana Department of Justice says the man was involved in a custodial dispute and took his 3-year-old son from Lacey.

Police found the man’s vehicle five miles southeast of Anaconda on Monday. They found the boy’s body Tuesday.

Krakowka declined to release the boy’s name.

OLYMPIA (AP) — A 16-year-old has been given a 15-year sentence for his role in a drive-by shooting that wounded another teen in Lacey for what prosecutors called a “schoolyard beef.’

Victor Torres pleaded guilty Tuesday in Thurston County Superior Court to assault charges.

The Olympian reports he’ll remain in the county juvenile jail until he’s 18 and then be transferred to a state prison.

Prosecutors say he had been fighting with a 15-year-old and enlisted a friend with a gun to “hunt” the victim who was wounded in January in a leg.

The 18-year-old who is accused of firing the shot, Terrell Fox, is scheduled for trial later this year on assault charges.