Couple’s dispute ends in fatality

A domestic dispute ended in an apparent homicide Thursday at a rural home in southern Stevens County, about six miles northwest of Deer Park.

Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer said Christopher Crayton Jenkins, 50, died shortly after noon of an apparent gunshot wound to the chest.

Deputies were investigating the claim of Robin Marie Jenkins, 35, that she killed her husband in self-defense. She was questioned and released to relatives without being arrested.

“It does appear to be a domestic-violence situation and so we are, of course, exploring whether the homicide was justified or not,” Thayer said.

He said the incident appeared to have been part of an ongoing cycle of domestic strife.

“She may have been knocked down, but she had no physical injuries,” Thayer said.

He said Robin Jenkins called 911 at 11:37 a.m. to report the incident at the couple’s home in the 5000 block of Jones Road, in the Williams Valley area several miles southwest of Clayton, Wash.

“Her report was that they had been involved in a domestic dispute, and that there was a gun and a knife involved,” the sheriff said.

Thayer declined to say how the weapons were used but said a knife and a handgun were found in the couple’s driveway, near the victim. Emergency workers administered CPR, but Christopher Jenkins died at the scene.

The sheriff’s office hadn’t previously been called to the home, but Thayer said his officers were “developing information” about a history of unreported domestic violence.

Court records show that Washington Mutual Bank foreclosed on the couple’s real estate Thursday. Thayer didn’t know whether that contributed to the fatal argument but said financial issues were a factor in the couple’s troubles.

Court records also show that Robin and Christopher Jenkins both had protection orders against 66-year-old George Albert Bombel.

Records show Christopher Jenkins and Bombel agreed to a mutual anti-harassment order on June 30 in Spokane County District Court, and that Robin Jenkins obtained a protection order against Bombel on Aug. 11 in Stevens County District Court.

Bombel did not attend the hearing in which visiting Spokane County District Court Commissioner Virginia Rockwood granted Robin Jenkins’ protection order.

“Too early to tell,” Thayer said when asked whether the conflict with Bombel contributed to Thursday’s homicide.

Robin Jenkins has no criminal history, and her husband apparently has no convictions in Stevens or Spokane counties.