DNA evidence has helped solve a 1962 double homicide near Battle Ground, marking the oldest cold case resolution in Clark County Sheriff’s Office history.
Investigators identified Barton M. Stebbins and Walter Stain as suspects in the killings of Charles Hale, 71, and Lester McCollum, 67, who were found dead on June 24, 1962. The final DNA breakthrough came Oct. 1, 2026, more than 64 years after the murders.
Although both suspects died before the investigation concluded and cannot face prosecution, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Cold Case Team believes the findings provide long-awaited answers for the victims’ families.
“While we are extremely disappointed that the suspects cannot be held accountable in court, we are grateful to finally have answers,” Major Crimes Unit Sgt. Fred Neiman Jr. said in a statement. “A major part of our mission is finding the truth and providing some measure of closure to victims’ families.”
Hale and McCollum were brothers-in-law who lived in separate residences on the same property near Battle Ground. Both deaths were ruled homicides. McCollum died from suffocation due to strangulation, while Hale died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the sheriff’s office.
Several days after the killings, Hale’s Ford sedan was recovered in Seattle. Investigators collected a fingerprint from the rearview mirror, but it remained unidentified for decades.
A breakthrough came in 2017, when an upgrade to the FBI’s fingerprint database system produced a match to Stebbins, who was 17 at the time of the murders. Despite the identification, progress was limited by competing investigative priorities and a lack of dedicated cold case resources.
The investigation gained momentum in 2024, when CCSO re-established its cold case team and brought in additional volunteers.
In October 2025, cold case investigator Michael Ramon and Neiman traveled to Hemet, California, to interview Stebbins, who was then 80. Although Stebbins did not confess, investigators identified inconsistencies in his account. He told them he had been traveling with another teenager around the time of the killings and voluntarily provided a DNA sample.
In an interview with The Reflector, Neiman described the significance of the meeting.
“He gave us kind of a fabricated story we believe about why his DNA might be at the scene and why his fingerprint was in the car and it's kind of that moment I was like this is our guy,” Neiman said.
Investigators worked with the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory to examine evidence preserved from the original investigation, including twine used to bind one of the victims and cigarette butts recovered from Hale’s vehicle.
On June 3, 2026, investigators learned that DNA testing indicated Stebbins was likely a contributor to the DNA recovered from the twine. DNA from the cigarette butts also strongly linked him to the vehicle.
As investigators prepared to seek an arrest warrant, they learned Stebbins had died of natural causes on June 1, just two days before the DNA findings were reported to investigators.
Neiman said Stebbins’ death meant investigators lost the opportunity to question him further and potentially obtain an account of what happened.
During their interview, Stebbins had mentioned traveling with another teenager. Investigators followed that lead and identified the individual as Walter Stain, who also was 17 at the time of the killings and died in 2019.
Because Stain was deceased, investigators could not interview him or collect a direct DNA sample. The cold case team instead obtained a reference sample from one of his descendants.
On Oct. 1, investigators learned the state crime laboratory had found strong evidence supporting Stain as the contributor to a previously unidentified DNA profile recovered from the cigarette butts.
The results strengthened investigators’ belief that two people were involved in the killings. Neiman said evidence from the original investigation included disturbed grass and tracks through a neighboring hayfield, which detectives at the time believed indicated two people had watched the property before approaching the victims’ residences.
Investigators believe robbery may have been a motive. Firearms and money were taken from the property, Neiman said in the interview, though the precise circumstances surrounding the killings remain uncertain.
The case required decades of work, including efforts to reconstruct records after the original case file was lost for a period. Neiman also credited retired sheriff’s office sergeant John Dush, who continued working on the case throughout his career and retirement, maintaining his own files and regularly seeking updates. Dush died in 2025.
Neiman said the cold case team has about 35 unsolved cases, making the resolution of its oldest investigation a significant milestone for the agency and its volunteers.
“Our team was ecstatic to finally get this closure,” Neiman said. “It's a great relief and it's a great victory for our team.”
The sheriff’s office said investigators have contacted descendants of both victims to share the findings. Surviving family members of both suspects also cooperated with the investigation.
The case’s resolution highlights the role of advances in forensic DNA technology, fingerprint analysis and decades of investigative work in revisiting evidence that once failed to identify those responsible.
Modern technology makes it harder for killers to evade detection
Modern technology has given investigators more ways to solve crimes and potentially prevent current cases from becoming long-running cold cases, according to Neiman.
Cellphone location data, social media, license plate readers, DNA analysis and improved fingerprint databases can help investigators identify suspects, establish timelines and gather evidence that may have been unavailable to detectives decades ago.
“Much harder to get away with murder now than ever has been,” Neiman said. “There is a lot of technology we have available to us.”
Investigators can obtain cellphone location information and other digital records with the proper search warrants and legal authority. Social media activity and license plate reader data can also help establish a suspect’s movements and connect people to a crime.
Neiman pointed to the Brunette case as an example of how technology can help investigators act quickly.
Brunette, a 66-year-old Woodland man, was arrested Feb. 24 on suspicion of murder after the body of 34-year-old Tori Garza of Vancouver was discovered Feb. 14 near the Tarbell Trailhead on state forest land in eastern Clark County. Clark County Sheriff’s Office detectives identified Andrew Brunette as a suspect after reviewing cellphone data, surveillance footage and other technology, as well as searching his home on Marty Loop in Woodland, where investigators reported finding evidence of foul play. Garza was last known to be in contact with associates Feb. 9. Brunette was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, patronizing a prostitute and unlawful disposal of human remains.
License plate reader technology played a significant role in solving the Brunette case and gathering evidence before more could potentially be destroyed. Neiman said restrictions on the use of that technology have since frustrated investigators working cases involving missing people in danger or homicide suspects who remain at large.
Despite the advances, Neiman said technology does not replace traditional investigative work. Detectives still must process crime scenes, interview witnesses and canvass neighborhoods.
The technology also raises questions about whether serial killers are less common today or simply have fewer opportunities to avoid detection.
Neiman said investigators have not found evidence that Brunette committed other crimes before the killing, but he questioned whether the outcome could have been different without a swift investigation.
“Could she have been the first if he wasn't apprehended so quickly?" Neiman said. “If the technology didn't help us solve this so quickly, could there have been more victims?”
