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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2000)
Smoke Signals Tribal Member Plays Vital Role in Serial Killer's Arrest Officer Cory Turman of the Spokane Police Department ticketed suspect; I " made critical observations. !':. ) 6 By Brent Merrill Spokane Police Officer Cory Turman, a Grand Ronde Tribal member, knew the suspect in a string of serial killings plaguing the area drove a white 1977 Corvette. Spokane resident Robert Lee Yates, Jr. was recently arrested and charged with the deaths-of eight women in Spokane. Yates is also a suspect in two murders in the Tacoma area and may be implicated in the deaths of 24 women in Ger many were he was stationed while in the Air Force. The Corvette Yates was driving when Turman pulled him over turned out to be the last vehicle in which 16 year-old victim Jennifer Joseph was seen alive. Turman, a six-year veteran of the police force, was tipped off on what to look for by the Homicide Task Force as he started one of his shifts. "I was working patrol and the people in charge of investigating the serial killer called the homicide task force came to all the officers at roll call and give us various ve hicles that they were interested in," said Turman. "This one (the Cor vette) turned out to be the last ve hicle that a (woman) by the name of Jennifer Joseph was seen in. They said 'if you see any of those get the information on them.' I was work ing the downtown area at the time down on East Sprague. "I stopped him and did what we call a field interview and just got some information," said Turman. "Where he works, where he lives, what he's driving, what he's wearing, jewelry, tattoos, anything like that. I filled out that form and sent it to the ho micide task force. That vehicle turned out to be a vehicle that they got a search warrant for and it turned out that they found Jennifer Joseph's blood in there, a button from her clothing and some fibers that matched her clothing." The task force received over 6,000 tips on the Yates case. Yates, 47, was an unlikely murder suspect. He lived with his wife and five daughters in a split-level home in the South Hill section of Spokane. Yates was a retired Air Force heli copter pilot who moved his family to Spokane in early 1996. The string of serial killings followed Yates to Spokane. DNA evidence linking Yates to the murders was found in 12 cars that Yates either owned or had owned in the past. "Once he was a suspect, everything just started fitting together for them," said Turman. "He (Yates) had al ready sold the car. Then, when they started looking at him real hard, they noticed that he had gone through several vehicles. That one (the Cor vette) had already been sold and they had tracked it down to the owner that had it and that is when they searched the vehicle and found all the evidence in there." According to Turman's Sergeant, Dan Torok, Turman played a key part in the arrest of Yates. "It (Turman's field report on Yates) was the one piece of crucial evidence that tied this guy to that car which ultimately tied him to the Joseph ho micide. In part, because of that in formation, they were able to get a search warrant for the guy's house and cars. A massive investigation seeking evidence began at that point." 7urman is an ideal cop who goes above and beyond the normal duties of a patrolman. Sergeant Dan Torok Torok said Turman is an ideal cop who goes above and beyond the nor mal duties of a patrolman. "Basically, what Cory did is he pro vided a key piece in the puzzle," said Torok. "He is a hard charging, hard working guy. He has worked for me for the last eight months. He is a good investigator. He is a street cop. He conducts excellent investigations on the street. He is an excellent inter viewerinvestigator. He can get people to tell him things that they probably really didn't want to tell him. ... "He is an excellent problem solv ing type cop," said Torok of Turman. "Cory is at about eight or nine search warrants for the year that he has written himself that our team has executed. Most patrolman don't write search warrants. Usually, de tectives write search warrants. So, he is highly developed in the area of search warrants and search warrant preparation. He always gets the in formation he needs to actually go in and get a search warrant." Dick Cottam, the Spokane Police Department's Public Information Of ficer, agreed with Torok and said Turman's conduct as an officer is ex emplary. . . "He (Turman) is a very good of ficer," said Cottam. "He is a nice young man and a conscientious of ficer who has been involved in a j 1 7 f 'f -k mm & - IF If Tj"s Cory Turman, a Spokane Police Officer and Tribal member, pic tured here with his son Tanner at the 2000 Grand Ronde Pow-wow. Turman is the son of Charlie and Jean Turman. Photo by Brent Merrill number of good cases." Cottam said Turman's observa tions show that the law enforcement system in place, can work. "Exactly. That is exactly the point of it," said Cottam. You never know when someone you encounter out on the street is going to have something come up later." Yates is currently in jail awaiting trail on a $1.5 million bond. Yates was arraigned on May 31, 2000 and entered a plea of not guilty. Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker will seek the death penalty for Yates. Yates trial may not begin until the fall of 2001. Casino Employes Saves Lives with -Heroic" Rescue 18 year-old Russell Irwin led people out of a burning bus suffering burns and smoke inhalation. By Brent Merrill Life has been pretty crazy lately for Dallas teenager Russell Irwin. First, he got married. Then, he got a new job. Next, he became a hero. After finishing his shift at the Grand Ronde Tribe's Spirit Mountain Ca sino as a prep cook, Irwin was on his way home when he came across a burning tour bus that also had just left the casino. Irwin acted quickly and began helping passengers get off the bus to safety. "I came over the hill and when I did, the charter bus was on fire," said Irwin. "In order to miss the bus, I had to pull my emergency brake other wise I would have hit them. They had cars scattered all over that hill. Irwin said he didn't have time to think. "I got out of the car and ran down to the bus," said Irwin. "I asked (someone) near the bus if they got everybody off the bus and he said there were still -people in there. They were pushing to get out. So, I went up over the seats and I got into the back end of the bus where the fire was at and started pulling people out of the bus. The guy that was helping me said after the sixth time I went into the bus I passed out on the stairs and he yanked me off the bus. Then, I went to the hospital." Irwin, who had splatter burns on his chest and first and second-degree burns on his arms, said he didn't feel like a hero. He said he just had to help if he could. 'You do what you have to," said Irwin. "When I came on the scene, there were people just standing there watching and I saw a couple of people drive by. I don't really see how anybody could do that." The bus started to deteriorate around him on his last trip into the burn ing vehicle. "The rubber on the floor of the bus was all gooey," said Irwin of the inferno. "I got chemical burns from the seats. They were pretty hot. I also got chemical burns in my throat and in my mouth because of the toxic fumes. I don't really remember too much after that. I just remember the ambulance came and got me." t , According to Oregon State Police on scene, a mechanical problem in the bus' engine caused the fire. . ' ' ( After rescuing some of the bus' senior citizens, Irwin was transported to the Dallas Hospital. Irwin was treated for first and second degree burns and smoke inhalation. "He is obviously a hero I think," said Spirit Mountain's interim CEO Bob Watson. "Certainly he would be a hero in the eyes of those people who could have been trapped on that bus without his presence of mind to jump in and save them. He really put their safety ahead of his own. We're very proud of that." V Irwin's 18 year-old wife, Anna, said she thought about being mad at her husband even though they had only been married a few days. She de cided to be proud of him instead. "When it happened I was sleeping," said Anna. "I woke up to a phone call. The only thing they told me was something about a bus fire and something about Russ. They said they would keep me posted and they hung up. So, I didn't know what to think. I told him I'm not mad at him for what he did, I'm proud of being his wife. He has a big heart and I know he would do it again." Irwin returned to work last week.
