COLVILLE, Wash. — A man has been arrested and charged with the murders of a woman and her daughter in Colville in 1997.
According to the Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney, 73-year-old Charles Tatom is suspected of killing 29-year-old Marlene Emerson and 12-year-old Cassie.
The prosecuting attorney says Tatom killed Marlene with a knife at her mobile home June 27, 1997. He’s then suspected of pouring gas in the trailer and lighting the home on fire.
The body of Cassie was discovered a month later in the woods near Orin Rice Road with knife marks on her neck.
Witnesses at the time of the murders reported hearing loud booms the night of Marlene’s murder believed to belong to the modified exhaust of Tatom’s vehicle.
DNA evidence was recovered in the vehicle and on a cigarette butt.
According to the prosecuting attorney, the murders appear to be motivated by Marlene’s association with a Colville motorcycle club, the Iron Horsemen.
Tatom faces two counts aggravated first-degree murder.
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