Saturday,

July 22, 2000

Tests link rifle part, shooting deaths

By SCOTT NORTH Herald Writer

A rifle barrel pulled out of a Lynnwood detention pond in late June has been linked by tests to the May 30 shooting deaths of two Everett-area teens at a fistfight that turned into a gunbattle.

Tests by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab compared the barrel from an SKS semiautomatic rifle and four bullet fragments retrieved during autopsies of Jason Thompson and Jesse Stoner, both 18, according to court records filed Friday.

The experts said the bullets were fired by the SKS rifle, detective David Heitzman of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said in a search warrant affidavit.

Detectives sought the warrant early this week so they could return to the south Everett home of Dennis J. Cramm, 17, who is now charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Investigators were looking for additional evidence from the shootings. They also were seeking a judge's permission to bring a car back to the shooting scene that Stoner and Thompson were riding in when they were killed.

Police wanted to try to establish where the car was when it was struck by bullets and where the bullets were fired from, court papers show.

Stoner and Thompson died when seven bullets hit the car they were riding in after a fistfight between Dennis Cramm and a 16-year-old south Snohomish County youth erupted in gunfire. The fight reportedly was watched by a few dozen young people and as many as 10 adults, including the defendant's father, Dale Cramm, 44.

Prosecutors allege that during the melee, the younger Cramm repeatedly fired an SKS rifle fitted with a large-capacity magazine. Police did not find the rifle believed used in the killings until they were led to it by John Michael Jauregui, 24. Jauregui, a former housemate of the Cramms, has admitted firing a semiautomatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle that night. He gave that weapon to a family member, and it was buried near Darrington and later recovered by detectives.

Jauregui has been cooperating with authorities in exchange for lesser charges for his alleged involvement in the case. He initially denied firing any weapon, but he now admits shooting the AK-47 and alleges that he traded gunfire with Anthony Bovan, 21, court papers show. Bovan, who has felony convictions for property crimes, is facing a weapons charge for allegedly snatching up guns at the scene and opening fire.

Heitzman's affidavit says that Jauregui's agreement with authorities is contingent on his telling the truth, and he passed a July 12 lie-detector test about his claim that he never fired at the car carrying Stoner and Thompson.

Prosecutors recently charged another of the Cramms' former housemates, Christopher W. Dinsmore, 20, with second-degree murder for allegedly helping set the stage for the May 30 violence.

Dale Cramm is charged with three drug-related felonies plus charges of tampering with witnesses and evidence. Prosecutors have repeatedly said they are investigating possible murder charges against the elder Cramm.

All the defendants have pleaded innocent.