July 6, 2000

Young Cramm pleads innocent in pair's death

Herald staff

An Everett teen who is suspected of killing two young men outside his home May 30 pleaded innocent Wednesday to first-degree murder charges.

Dennis J. Cramm, 17, entered the pleas during a brief hearing in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Cramm had been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Jason Thompson and Jesse Stoner, both 18. The charges were upgraded Friday after prosecutors alleged evidence developed recently shows Cramm displayed an "extreme indifference to human life" when he allegedly fired an SKS semiautomatic rifle into a car carrying Stoner and Thompson.

The pair died when seven bullets hit the car they were riding in after gunfire erupted at a fistfight between Dennis Cramm and a 16-year-old south Snohomish County youth. The gunplay occurred outside Cramm's home.

Dennis Cramm's father, Dale B. Cramm, 44, is also being investigated for possible murder charges, prosecutors said last week. The father is suspected of playing a role in escalating the fistfight into a gunbattle.

Dale Cramm is charged with three drug-related felonies as well as charges of tampering with witnesses and tampering with evidence. Dale Cramm has pleaded innocent.

Both Cramms are being held at the county jail in Everett.