In brief: Woman acquitted in mother’s death

A Spokane County jury acquitted a woman on Thursday of first-degree murder in the death of her mother.

The trial of Rachael Colby in the death of Latanya C. Chapin started last week. The jury took two days to deliberate.

Jurors could not agree to a verdict on a charge of aggravated first-degree murder and found her not guilty on an alternative charge of first-degree murder. The jury did find her guilty on four charges of identity theft.

Chapin was found dead in the trunk of her car on the South Hill in April 2014, but investigators estimate that she was killed around the end of February. Colby was arrested for the crime along with her boyfriend, Juan Sifuentez.

The three had lived together in Spokane Valley and Chapin had reportedly asked the two to move out.

Initially Colby said that Sifuentez beat her mother to death with a baseball bat and she helped him conceal evidence while Sifuentez told police that Colby beat and stabbed her mother to death and he helped her clean up the scene. Sifuentez pleaded guilty to robbery, kidnapping and aggravated murder charges in July 2014 against the advice of his attorney. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The identity theft convictions stem from allegations that Colby used her mother’s bank account after she was killed to buy cellphones that were then sold for cash.

Nina Culver

Burglar used stolen car as battering ram

A stolen car slammed into the front entrance of American Coin & Vault, 5523 N. Wall St., early Thursday morning. Spokane police spokeswoman Officer Teresa Fuller said Thursday morning that police had not made an arrest in the case.

Although the burglar emptied out a few display cases, owner Shan Graham said the worst loss was from the actual crash.

“There is honestly more damage to the building than what was taken,” he said.

The incident occurred about 4:45 a.m., Fuller said. The burglar left the stolen car on scene.

Around 9 a.m. Thursday morning broken glass from the window already had been removed and workers were starting to replace the smashed window.

No customer’s jewelry was taken. The burglar was only in the store for about 30 seconds, Graham said. He said all the “big-ticket items” were stored in more secure areas of the store.

“I guess I should be a little more upset,” he said.

Eli Francovich