Two more face charges in Stevens County death

Two additional suspects have been charged with murder in the shooting death of a Stevens County man in July.

Jesse J. Fellman-Shimmin, 27, and Collette Marie Pierce, 25, appeared Thursday in Stevens County Superior Court on first-degree murder charges for the death of Gordon Feist, 63, during what investigators believe was a botched robbery attempt. They also are charged with second-degree murder as an alternate.

They are to be arraigned Tuesday, said Deputy Prosecutor Lech Radzimski.

The accused triggerman, Eric Lee Booth, 26, has been in jail on a murder charge since July 20.

Authorities say Booth, Fellman-Shimmin and Pierce planned to rob Feist of guns and money on July 17, but Booth panicked and shot Feist twice in the head, killing him.

Detectives believe Booth, who did maintenance work at Feist’s home, obtained a gun when he burglarized a home in June with convicted felon Christopher George Nicols, 26, who is in jail on theft and gun charges.

According to court documents, Booth and Fellman-Shimmin were armed when they approached Feist’s home on Smart Way, just south of Colville, with the intent of robbing him.

They agreed that Pierce “would do all the talking” and say they were out of gas as a ruse, but Booth said he panicked and shot the retiree, who was armed, twice in the head, according to court documents. Feist had been driving the three in a utility vehicle at the time; it crashed into a pole, and neighbors alerted law enforcement to the crash.

Booth told detectives the three ran to their car after the shooting and drove to Rocky Lake, where they burned blood-spotted clothing and discarded an unopened case of Coors Light beer.

Booth later went with detectives to the location, where they recovered the beer and other discarded items.

Booth was identified as a suspect after a Washington Department of Corrections officer who was checking on his brother noticed cuts on Booth’s face consistent with the crash. Detectives suspected other people may have been riding in the vehicle when it crashed. Booth detailed Fellman-Shimmin’s and Pierce’s involvement in an interview with detectives on Aug. 12. He was accompanied by his lawyer, Paul Wasson.

Pierce and Fellman-Shimmin were already in custody on unrelated cases when prosecutors charged them with murder this week.

Text messages obtained by detectives showed Booth, who used a nickname that referenced white supremacy, discussed the robbery plan about 6:45 p.m. July 17, the night Feist was killed.

Fellman-Shimmin was transported to Stevens County from the Ferry County Jail last week, where he was being held on a probation violation. En route, he reportedly told a jailer that police “probably already knew that he and Collette were there when Eric murdered that guy.”

Feist lived at the home with his longtime partner, Denise Ridley. He had inherited a trucking business from his father and expanded the company, friends say.