PORT ANGELES — A woman accused in three shooting deaths late last month appeared in Clallam County Superior Court on Monday and was ordered held on $3 million bail.
Kallie Ann Letellier, 34, and her alleged accomplice, Dennis M. Bauer, 50, are both being held in the Clallam County jail for investigation of three counts of first-degree murder each, while a third person, Ryan Warren Ward, 37, is expected to return to Clallam County to also face three murder charges.
“The court has read about the brazen conduct of leaving people in a driveway wrapped in tarps after killing them in the driveway,” said Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin. “Based on the danger to the community, the use of the firearm and the brazen nature of this, I am asking for $3 million bail.”
Charges against Bauer, who also is facing an attempted murder charge, are expected to be filed today.
Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said Monday morning that interviews that lasted until midnight Sunday gave investigators reason to believe the shooting deaths of Darrell C. Iverson, 57; his son, Jordan D. Iverson, 27; and the son’s girlfriend, Tiffany A. May, 26, were planned and new information linked Ward to the crime.
The Iversons were each shot multiple times, including once in the head, at the elder Iverson’s home at 52 Bear Meadow Road east of Port Angeles on Dec. 26, according to court documents.
The gruesome scene was discovered on New Year’s Eve when a family member found the Iversons’ bodies covered by tarps and debris in the front of the home. May was found dead the next day, locked in an outbuilding.
King said Ward, who is now held in the Snohomish County jail on an unrelated warrant, will return to Clallam County to face first-degree murder charges.
“We have new information that more clearly illustrates what occurred … at the Iverson residence,” King said.
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols said prosecutors are going in the direction of charging all three with three counts of aggravated first-degree murder, but declined to speculate on what charges would actually be filed. He said each would face three counts of murder.
He said it wouldn’t be long before Ward appears in Clallam County Superior Court, but was unsure exactly when he would appear.
Letellier, who also is known as Kallie Ann Wade and Kallie Ann Buchanan, was arrested late Saturday night at a home on Gasman Road without incident.
Bauer was arrested early Thursday morning when a State Patrol SWAT team served a warrant at his “compound” on the 2500 block of Lower Elwha Road.
During interviews with law enforcement, Letellier initially denied being a shooter, saying Ward and Bauer were the only two shooters, according to a new probable cause affidavit filed Monday.
When investigators told her that her story did not match with what detectives observed at the scene, she then admitted to killing May, records say.
What led to both of their arrests was the arrest of Ward, who provided key information about the case, according to court records.
Ward was arrested last Wednesday afternoon at the Lower Elwha Food and Fuel by U.S. Marshals Service deputies in connection to an unrelated warrant out of Snohomish County.
Ward initially told investigators he overheard Letellier and Bauer talking about Bauer walking out of the Iversons’ house and shooting Iverson and his son while Letellier and May were inside, court records say.
“Dennis spoke of shooting both males and that he emptied the ‘clip,’ ” records say.
Ward said he heard Letellier say that May ran outside, that Letellier followed her, then shot her; and that Bauer dragged May’s body into a shed on the property.
When Ward was told that investigators knew he was at the scene he admitted that he was there, but maintained he didn’t shoot anyone, records say.
Letellier said Bauer had told her Ward no longer “wanted to go along with their plan, and she had to take over for him,” the probable cause statement said.
Court records, based on interviews with close to a dozen people familiar with the elder Iverson’s property, say there was use of methamphetamine at the property, but that drug use might not be the motive.
Ward told investigators that Bauer allegedly wanted to get back at Darrell Iverson for his treatment of Letellier.
“The whole issue was that Dennis had a beef with Darrell over keeping Kallie and holding her as a ‘pet,’ ” Sheriff’s Detective Josh Ley said in summarizing Ward’s interview with authorities.
“Regarding motive for the homicides, Ryan said the only motive he could think of was how Darrell treated Kallie,” Ley said.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
U.S. Marshals Service deputies arrest Ryan Ward at Lower Elwha Food and Fuel last Wednesday. (Jared Baker)
Oficials from the U.S. Marshals Service and Clallam County Sheriff’s Office talk outside the Lower Elwha Food and Fuel where Ryan Ward was arrested. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)