Arrasmith Jury Trial To Begin Nov. 6

A jury trial starting Nov. 6 was scheduled Wednesday for Kenneth D. Arrasmith on two counts of firstdegree murder for the slayings of a Clarkston, Wash., couple outside a Lewiston auto shop.

Arrasmith, 44, of Sunnyside, Wash., was returned to the Nez Perce County Jail without bond after pleading innocent before 2nd District Judge Ida Leggett to the May 17 shooting deaths of Ronald and Luella Bingham.

Leggett set an Oct. 12 conference for any pre-trial motions in the case.

At the time they were killed, authorities in Washington’s Asotin County were investigating allegations that the Binghams had sexually molested Arrasmith’s 15-year-old daughter.

The couple was charged with forcibly raping a 16-year-old baby sitter in 1984. Ronald Bingham pleaded guilty to second-degree rape in exchange for charges against his wife being dropped. He served an 18-month prison term.

Family members say Arrasmith, a former Asotin County sheriff’s deputy, did some investigating himself into the allegations involving the Binghams and his daughter, and took his findings to authorities about a week before the shootings.