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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane detective Madsen dies at 53


Madsen
 (File / The Spokesman-Review)
Thomas Clouse Staff writer

Spokane County Sheriff’s Detective Dave Madsen was testifying in a double-murder trial three weeks ago when he mentioned that his back had been hurting.

Madsen visited a doctor shortly after the trial and discovered that he had bone cancer. The 31-year law enforcement veteran died Sunday night at the age of 53.

“He was one of the finest major crimes detectives that we’ve had,” Sheriff Mark Sterk said this week. “Dave was a smart detective with an eye for detail and a sense for pursuing the bad guy until he was in our jail. But he was also a friend that you enjoyed having around. He will be greatly missed.”

Madsen solved the 1999 murder of 9-year-old Valiree Jackson in Spokane Valley. It was one of the first cases in the country to use Global Positioning Satellite information to track a killer.

Madsen later testified about using the GPS device to follow the killer to a remote Stevens County gravesite where the girl’s body was discovered. That evidence was used a year later to help convict Jackson’s father, Brad Jackson, of first-degree murder.

“I’m still having a hard time comprehending that (Madsen’s death) happened,” said Jack Driscoll, chief criminal prosecutor for the county, who worked with Madsen in the Jackson case. “He was a first-class detective.”

Driscoll was working with Madsen again three weeks ago in the trial of 20-year-old Brandon Martin. A jury later sent Martin to prison without the possibility of parole for killing two men and trying to kill a third in a shooting rampage inside a Mead home in 2003.

Madsen “was out in the hallway complaining of a backache,” Driscoll said. “He didn’t know at the time. That’s all he thought was he hurt his back. The last time I saw him was the day he testified.”

Madsen was the detective who investigated Driscoll’s first felony trial some 18 years ago, Driscoll said. It was a burglary case.

“I just remember him leaning over after the cross-examination of my star witness,” Driscoll said of Madsen. “He said, ‘This case is over.’ He was right. I lost it. I got a lot better after that.”

Madsen was hired at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office in February 1974, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said. He was promoted to the rank of detective/corporal on Sept. 1, 1983.

He investigated scores of lower-profile homicide, drug and property crimes before solving several high-profile cases in the past few years, Reagan said.

Madsen leaves behind his wife, Tricia, who is a former Spokane Police officer, and five children.

Spokane Police Lt. Scott Stephens worked as a partner of Tricia Madsen when they were both new officers.

“I’ve known Dave for years. He was a very talented investigator, hard working, diligent and extremely ethical,” Stephens said. “On a personal level, he was genuinely a nice person. It’s just tragic.”

Funeral services are scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. at the Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, 115 N. Raymond, Reagan said.