EVERETT — Snohomish County prosecutors want a judge to weigh in on whether detectives investigating the apparent killings of an Arlington-area couple need to divert attention from the case and instead respond to demands for public records.
The county last week filed a civil lawsuit seeking a court ruling on whether the state’s Public Records Act requires speedy release of the documents detectives have assembled, or barring that, a record-by-record rationale for not complying with the demands.
The litigation is in response to records requests made last month by two people who have challenged the county’s assertion that the materials are exempt from disclosure because they are part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
County attorneys so far have been unable to identify those who are seeking the records beyond the email addresses used and what officials believe are pseudonyms. One of the requesters signs the messages as Kelly, the other Kishi Thox.
Both sought a number of records that haven’t been filed in court or otherwise made public in connection with the April disappearance and presumed killings of Patrick Shunn and Monique Patenaude.
Some of the material they are seeking zeroes in on people who may have witnessed key events leading up to the couple’s disappearance and the identification of two brothers, John and Tony Reed, as suspects in the case.
One of the people seeking the records claimed to be part of the missing couple’s circle of family and friends.
A victim advocate from the prosecutor’s office checked with representatives from Shunn’s and Patenaude’s families. The family members have no idea who the requesters might be or why they’d be seeking documents about the case, according to court papers.
Detectives fear those seeking access to the investigation might somehow be trying to assist the Reed brothers, Sheriff Ty Trenary said.
“We have had some evidence that they’ve been aided by their family all along,” Trenary said.
Tony Reed surrendered to authorities Monday. John Reed’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Those seeking the records have emailed the county, asserting that even though the materials may be exempt from disclosure now, the law requires an accounting of the documents withheld and the legal justification.
The requesters appealed denial of their requests to the county’s public records officer, who sided with the sheriff’s office.
Both requesters wrote about their surprise when county prosecutors opted to take the dispute to court.
“Is this your normal response for any record requester, or are we getting ‘special treatment’ here?” Kishi Thox wrote in a May 11 email. “Frankly, this is upsetting a lot of emotions during a time that is already unbelievably hard to just get through on a day to day level.”
Prosecutors want records in the case declared exempt from disclosure until both suspects are in custody and the investigation complete. They’ve asked for a Friday hearing in Snohomish County Superior Court. The people making the records request have been informed of the litigation and upcoming hearing.
Case law and common sense support declaring the records off-limits at this time, wrote Jason Cummings, the county’s chief civil deputy prosecutor.
“The public interest in this case is best served by the capture, extradition and prosecution of John and Tony Reed,” Cummings wrote. “The public interest is not served by requiring law enforcement to halt their investigation and spend their resources gathering, reviewing and making determinations about what particularized information may or may not be essential to effective law enforcement at this point in time.”
County officials also acknowledge they are concerned about the potential financial impacts from a long-running dispute over access to the records.
The sheriff’s office in recent years has been the focus of costly settlements over failures to provide timely access to public records.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews.
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