Parents of Reed brothers in double-murder case get out of jail

Published 4:50 pm Wednesday, June 15, 2016

EVERETT — One day after they were arrested for allegedly helping their fugitive sons flee the state, an Ellensburg couple was released from the Snohomish County Jail on Wednesday pending charges.

Clyde and Faye Reed, 81 and 77 respectively, made brief appearances in Everett District Court.

Defense lawyers didn’t contest whether there was probable cause for their arrests. Likewise, prosecutors didn’t press for bail.

The couple is accused of providing their sons money and a car after an Oso couple was shot and killed in April.

Murder suspect John Blaine Reed, 53, has eluded arrest for more than two months. He is believed to be in Mexico.

His brother, Tony Reed, 49, turned himself in to authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border in May. He initially was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, but those charges are being dropped. Instead, he has been charged with rendering criminal assistance for allegedly helping his brother bury the bodies and hide evidence. He is expected to plead guilty to the new charges Friday, his attorney said.

John Reed is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Patrick Shunn, 45, and Monique Patenaude, 46. Shunn was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Patenaude died from multiple gunshot wounds. They were last seen alive April 11.

Prosecutors believe John Reed likely killed his neighbors. Years of tension between Reed and his neighbors only worsened after the 2014 Oso mudslide.

Ellensburg attorney James Kirkham, who represented Tony Reed in previous court cases, arranged for his May 16 surrender. From the start, he insisted his client was not involved in the murders.

Kirkham said his client is planning to admit guilt to helping his brother after the fact. His client faces about a year behind bars.

“I think it is most definitely the right result,” Kirkham said Wednesday afternoon. “It punishes him for his actual culpability and not for what people thought he had done.

“It has been the result we have been working on since he wanted to turn himself in,” Kirkham added. “… People can stop speculating as to his involvement.”

Detectives have confirmed that the younger Reed brother was gathering agates with friends the day of the killings, and that his older brother drove to Eastern Washington that evening and brought him to Oso, deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson said in court papers.

Tony Reed was looking for “Ellensburg blues,” a kind of rock often used in jewelry, Kirkham said.

Tony Reed told investigators it wasn’t until he got to Oso that he learned of the killings, according to court papers. He allegedly described helping his brother bury the bodies and hide the victims’ vehicles. He later helped detectives find the burial site.

John Reed is wanted on a $5 million arrest warrant. The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture and arrest.

Among other things, detectives believe Clyde Reed tried to clean up a pickup truck belonging to John Reed after his son told him he was in legal trouble and that Faye Reed went to the Department of Licensing to transfer ownership of the truck to her name.

The elder Reeds also are accused of giving him the car used to flee the state.

Three days after the Oso couple disappeared, John Reed attempted to cash a $96,000 cashier’s check at a bank in Ellensburg. The money came from the recent sale of John Reed’s property that was damaged in the mudslide.

The bank refused to provide him the money in a lump sum. Instead, it wrote four checks for $14,000 each to his relatives and a $40,000 check to John Reed.

Law enforcement was able to get a stop-payment order placed on the checks and freeze the transactions.

Detectives allege that his family members attempted to funnel the money to John Reed.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com