A man is in custody for an assault that allegedly took place in the same rural Woodland location where authorities say a Portland man was murdered.
Jeremy Paul Howe, 44, of Woodland, was in Cowlitz County Jail as of Sunday and is charged with second-degree assault and violating the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
The assault allegedly took place in October inside Howe's RV in the 1100 block of Whalen Road. Authorities say Cesar Reyes, Jr., 46 of Portland, was shot a month later at the location, and his remains were found soon after on an Ariel logging road.
Joseph Klimas III, 45, of Vancouver is charged with Reyes' murder and his bail is set at $2 million. He was also in county jail as of Sunday.
Klimas
Klimas sat quietly last week during his court appearance, seated next to his attorney, Ian Maher, director of the Cowlitz County Office of Public Defense.
Senior Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Carlow said at the Feb. 10 hearing that Klimas shot Reyes "execution-style," with the victim on his knees, and later dumped the body along a logging road near milepost 42 on Lewis River Road.
Klimas is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, unlawful firearm possession and improper disposal of a human body. His next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
According to new information in a police report, Howe told authorities Klimas and another person arrived at the rural Whalen Road residence with Reyes on the morning of Nov. 11 to purchase a gun from Howe.
Howe's RV was located on the site.
Klimas and the other person — who has not been charged in Cowlitz County Superior Court — planned to kill Reyes at the Whalen Road property and feed his remains to pigs, but Howe asked to them perform the crime off the property, the report states.
Klimas said he shot Reyes in the face, Howe told police.
He also reported seeing Klimas sell a large-caliber handgun. An autopsy shows Reyes died as a result of a gunshot wound to his head and neck from a large caliber bullet.
Howe said Reyes was killed for providing information about Klimas to others, though the police report doesn't include details.
Howe
Howe told authorities about the alleged murder while he was in Cowlitz County Jail, court records show.
He has a criminal record dating back to the 1990s, which includes a rape charge, failure to register as a sex offender and a third-degree assault charge.
His trial for assault and the drug charge is tentatively set for March 11, and his bail is set at $25,000.
According to a police report, the victim reported to authorities that on or about Oct. 12, Howe raped her in his RV, parked at the Whalen Road site.
She told authorities she asked Howe to stop, and that he knew she was under 18. She added that once the assault was over, Howe offered her fentanyl, the report states.
She said she was too afraid to report the assault, but confided to a family member.
When that family member confronted Howe, Howe assaulted him with the burner of a hot plate, the police report states. The family member was hospitalized, and later identified Howe in a photo lineup.
Howe denied all of the allegations to authorities.
Deputies also report finding a baggie of what they suspected to be meth in Howe's pocket, as well as several used and loaded hypodermic needles, smoke pipes and scales, according to the police report.
