Quilcene man due to answer charges stemming from twin killings, house fire

PORT TOWNSEND — Michael J. Pierce will be arraigned in Jefferson County Superior Court on Friday on 11 felony charges, including the murders of Patrick and Janice Kay Yarr of Quilcene.

Pierce, a 34-year-old Quilcene man, has been charged with the deaths of the Yarrs and the burning of their home at 780 Boulton Farm Road in Quilcene on March 18.

In addition to the two murder charges and a charge of arson, Pierce also is charged with two counts of robbery, one count of burglary, two counts of theft of a firearm, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of identity theft.

Live video feed

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

His appearance will be by video feed from the Jefferson County jail at 8:30 a.m.

Investigators say they have no recent developments to report on the case.

“Nothing new as of yet,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez on Wednesday.

“We are continuing to execute search warrants and follow up on leads.”

Working with FBI

Hernandez said his department is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the case.

Pierce was arrested on March 23 after he was identified by investigators from a surveillance camera at an automated teller machine at a Quilcene bank.

The camera allegedly recorded him using the Yarrs’ debit card minutes after the blaze began.

Pierce told investigators that he did not shoot the Yarrs or start the fire that night.

According to charging documents, Pierce claims another person — whom he is refusing to name without a plea deal — entered the Yarrs’ home that night, shot them and started the fire.

No second arrest

Hernandez said no second individual has been arrested.

Pierce was transferred by ambulance from the jail to a hospital last Thursday.

The sheriff declined to say why Pierce was hospitalized, citing privacy requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.

Memorial service

The Yarrs’ memorial service over the weekend drew a crowd of 700 people to pay their respects.

The bodies of the Yarrs were discovered the day after the blaze that consumed their home.

Investigators later announced that an autopsy found the Yarrs had not died as a result of the fire and that the fire was intentionally stated.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to determine the cause of death.

________

Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Four Quileute Tribal School students take a salmon offering into the ocean as part of the annual Welcoming the Whales ceremony at First Beach in La Push on Friday. (Christi Baron/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Welcoming the Whales

On Friday, Quileute Tribal School students performed the annual Welcoming the Whales… Continue reading

Former USAID worker Miguel Reabold, shown with a colleague in Honduras in 2018. (Miguel Reabold)
USAID worker fears damage

Reabold worries about relationships

No flight operations scheduled

There will be no field carrier landing practice operations for… Continue reading

Caro Tchannie and her daughter Lola Hatch, 9, of Tulallip try a long string of beads at Squatchcon on Thursday at the Vern Burton Community Center gym in Port Angeles. Kevin VanDinter of Port Angeles was one of 60 vendors at the four day event, which continues through Sunday. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Squatchcon underway

Caro Tchannie and her daughter Lola Hatch, 9, of Tulallip try a… Continue reading

Capital budgets include Peninsula

Millions in state funds earmarked

Mike Chapman.
Chapman asks not to employ legislative privilege

State senator removes an exemption to Public Records Act

Port of Port Townsend considering Short’s Farm access

Commissioners aim to balance public, agricultural use

Jefferson library director to start new job May 19

Meet-and-greet event scheduled for May 22

Man taken to hospital after car hits tree

A man was transported to a hospital after a single-car… Continue reading

Bypass roads to be installed at two fish passage sites

Contractors will begin construction of one-lane bypass roads at two… Continue reading

Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Stew Cockburn stands in the spring annual section prior to it being for early spring gardeners.
New Dungeness Nursery planted in landscaping industry

Family and their employees work 2-acre location in Sequim