Lindsey faces charges in wake of Lazcano trials

Formal charges of rendering criminal assistance and obstructing were filed Dec. 23 in Whitman County Superior Court against Eli J. Lindsey, 38, Washtucna. Both charges are gross misdemeanors.

The charges relate to Lindsey’s alleged role in the Lazcano murder cases which concluded Dec. 18 with a conviction of Daniel Lazcano on a charge of fatally shooting Marcus Schur at Malden Dec. 27, 2011.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy last week said the filing of the gross misdemeanor charges are part of an agreement which had previously been negotiated for Lindsey’s cooperation as a state’s witness in the trials of Daniel Lazcano and his brother Frank Lazcano who was convicted earlier this year.

Lindsey was initially arrested April 6, 2012, as the murder investigation advanced after the recovery of Schur’s body from the outlet creek of Rock Lake.

Lindsey, who is one of three defendants facing charges in the wake of the murder investigation, testified at the Lazcano trials about his role in tossing the murder weapon, an AK-47, in the Spokane River in Spokane. He is a former step-father of the Lazcano brothers.

Lindsey has been summoned to appear in court Jan. 17.

Travis Carlon, who testified at the trials that he accompanied Lindsey to Spokane to toss the rifle, was scheduled Friday to appear in court Jan. 10 and enter a plea to a charge of rendering criminal assistance. He was represented by Roger Sandberg of Pullman.

Also scheduled for Jan. 10 is a plea and sentencing of Ben Evensen, 24, Rosalia, on charges of burglarizing the former liquor store at Rosalia March 23, 2012. Evensen negotiated a plea bargain with the prosecutor’s office, but the case has been on hold pending his cooperation in the Lazcano trials.