Associated Press
VANCOUVER — A 45-year-old man is accused of killing his mother at her Vancouver home last week and trying to dismember her before he was arrested, according to court documents.
Kenneth Moore appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court. He was ordered held on $5 million bond for investigation of murder.
In a probable cause affidavit, a Vancouver police detective said Leisa Holt’s body was found Friday next to sharp cutting instruments and household cleaning chemicals, indicating Moore had “begun attempts to dismember” her and clean up the scene to conceal his crime.
The woman, 60, died of multiple head injuries, the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office said Tuesday.
Holt’s boyfriend went to her home Friday to check on her after he wasn’t able to reach her by phone for a few days. He told police he used a key she had given him to get inside the home, but he was confronted by Moore, who raised his fists and told him to leave.
When two officers went to check on Holt, Moore pointed a rifle at one officer’s head, according to an affidavit signed by a Vancouver police detective.
SWAT officers were dispatched to the home, and Moore was taken into custody for assault on the officer.
Officers discovered Holt’s body while clearing the home.
Messages left with Moore’s lawyer, Louis Byrd, were not immediately returned.
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