EVERETT — Prosecutors on Thursday filed criminal charges against the parents of double homicide suspect John Blaine Reed.
Reed, 53, is accused of executing his former neighbors, Patrick Shunn and Monique Patenaude. The couple’s bodies were found in a shallow grave not far from their Oso home in mid-May, about a month after they were reported missing. Both had been shot in the head. Patenaude, 46, also had gunshot wounds to a forearm and shoulder.
Detectives suspect that Reed first killed Patenaude the morning of April 11. Shunn, 45, likely was shot to death when he returned home from work later that same day, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson wrote in charging papers. Reed and his former neighbors reportedly had an ongoing property dispute. The feud seemed to escalate after the deadly Oso mudslide in 2014.
Reed is believed to be in Mexico. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and wanted on a $5 million warrant.
Prosecutors allege that his parents, Clyde and Faye Reed, helped their son flee the country. Court documents also say that the couple lied to detectives and destroyed evidence after the killings. Clyde Reed allegedly told police that he knew where his son was going, but would never turn him in, Matheson wrote.
Clyde Reed also allegedly admitted that he hid from police information about his son’s finances, including John Reed’s attempts to cash a $96,000 check after the killings. His son ended up handing over cashier’s checks to family members, including his parents. Detectives worked with banks to freeze the funds to prevent Reed’s from accessing the money.
Matheson charged Reed’s parents with first-degree rendering criminal assistance, a felony.
Clyde Reed, 81, and his wife, 77, are expected to be arraigned next month in Superior Court. Prosecutors don’t expect to ask a judge to jail the Reeds pending trial. The Ellensburg couple was released from jail shortly after their arrest last month.
Their younger son, Tony Clyde Reed, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree rendering criminal assistance in connection with the shootings. He faces around a year in prison for helping his brother bury Shunn and Patenaude and for attempting to hide or destroy evidence, including the couple’s vehicles.
Tony Reed fled south with his brother, but he surrendered to authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border in May. At the time he, too, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Those charges were dropped after the investigation showed that he was gathering agates with friends the day of the killings. He told investigators that his brother showed up and asked him to go to Oso. It wasn’t until he got there that he learned of the homicides, according to court papers.
After his surrender, Tony Reed took detectives to where he helped his brother bury the victims.
Court papers filed Thursday say that Clyde and Faye Reed gave their sons a vehicle and money to flee Washington. The men later obtained a different car and more money in Arizona.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
