Judge Clears Way For Victims’ Families Rules Safety Shortcuts May Have Contributed To Murders At Restaurant

Safety shortcuts by the owner of a fast-food restaurant may have contributed to the murders of two young employees there in 1992, a Superior Court judge ruled.

The decision allows the victims’ families to move ahead with a wrongful-death lawsuit against Ed Hatter, who owns the Burger King on Argonne Road in the Spokane Valley.

The lawsuit claims Hatter took “unreasonable risks” in employee safety at the restaurant, where convicted killer Blake Pirtle used to work.

Judge Neal Rielly released from liability both Burger King Corp. and Spokane Security Systems, which were also named in the families’ lawsuit.

In his decision, Rielly agreed with Burger King Corp. that Hatter’s purchase of a franchise restaurant made it “his to run.”

Attorney Ernie Greco, who represents Burger King Corp., said the agreement means his client has “no duty” to the victims in this case.

Richard Hayes, a lawyer for Spokane Security Systems, said Hatter discontinued an alarm service to his Burger King franchise about a year before the murders. “We had no further obligation,” he said.

Efforts to reach Hatter or his attorney, Richard Feltman, for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Pirtle is on death row following his conviction for the May 17, 1992, throat-slashing killings of 20-year-old breakfast manager Dawnya Calbreath and 24-year-old cook Tod Folsom.

Police said Pirtle, 28, was bent on revenge because he was fired two weeks earlier for sexually harassing female employees.

High on cocaine, Pirtle said he grabbed a butcher knife and drove to the Burger King, where he had previously taken orders across the counter. He waited for the graveyard-shift manager to leave, then entered through the rear door.

Inside, Calbreath and Folsom were getting ready to open the restaurant. Pirtle knocked Calbreath unconscious by hitting her with gallon-sized cans of paint stored at the restaurant, then slashed her throat at least 16 times.

Folsom begged for his life before Pirtle crushed his skull with a fire extinguisher, then sawed at his throat with a knife and hacksaw.

Pirtle fled with $4,200 in cash.

Before Calbreath died, she pressed a panic alarm inside a walk-in cooler. The alarm was received by Spokane Security Systems, but police were not called because the restaurant wasn’t under contract.

Attorney Mark Vovos, who represents the victims’ families, said negligence by Hatter includes:

The restaurant’s rear door - through which Pirtle entered - had a faulty lock, making it easy to force open.

The alarm system that was effectively out of operation for more than a year because Hatter canceled the service.

Large sums of cash kept on the premises at times, increasing risk of robbery.

Hiring practices that failed to screen out applicants with criminal records. Pirtle, an ex-felon, was hired at the restaurant despite having been fired from another Burger King downtown.

Vovos was in trial Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. The victims’ families have 30 days to appeal Rielly’s decision.

, DataTimes