Arrest made in 1985 Lewis County double slayings
Jul 9, 2012, 9:20 AM | Updated: 10:35 am
The Lewis County Sheriff's office says a man has been arrested in Alaska for the investigation of a 1985 homicide that left a couple in their 80s dead. (Image courtesy Lewis County Sheriff's Office)
(Image courtesy Lewis County Sheriff's Office)
The Lewis County Sheriff’s office says a man has been arrested in Alaska for the investigation of a 1985 homicide that left a couple in their 80s dead.
The sheriff’s office alleges that 83-year-old Wilhelmina and 81-year-old Edward Maurin were kidnapped by Rick Riffe, now 53, and his brother John, taken to a bank and forced to withdraw $8,500 in December 1985.
Family members first reported the couple missing when they weren’t home for a Christmas party. The next day, witnesses had reported seeing the vehicle. When police found it, there were blood stains inside and the keys were in the ignition.
Investigators say the elderly couple was then shot inside their car with a shotgun and their bodies were dragged to a wooded area.
They were later found in the woods at the end of Stearns Hill Road, in Chehalis by a passerby that Christmas Eve.
Police had suspected the Riffe brothers of the crime for some time, but lacked sufficient evidence to make an arrest. They believed some witnesses didn’t come forward because they feared the retaliation of the Riffe brothers.
Rick Riffe was arrested Sunday in King Salmon, Alaska, where he and his brother moved in 1987. His brother, John, died a week before the Lewis County Sheriff’s office bought the plane tickets to travel to Alaska and make the arrests.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
