Charges upped to first degree murder for shooting suspect

By John Hanron

The man who fired three shots at his hotel door, killing a man outside who was mistakenly trying to get into the wrong room, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Kino Michael Gomez, 57, of Seattle has been in Okanogan County Jail since his arrest the night of July 17. Prosecutors had originally sought a second-degree murder charge against the Seattle engineer, but last week revised it to a first-degree charge based on what county prosecutor Karl Sloan called “circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life.”

A second-degree murder charge has been filed as an alternative to the first, should a court find that the case does not measure up to the requirements of the first-degree charge. Gomez also faces two counts of reckless endangerment.

Gomez was staying at the Blue Spruce Motel in Twisp the night of July 17 when, according to police investigators, Thomas Pfaeffle and his wife, Valarie, were checking in. The Pfaeffles had rented out Room 8, but mistakenly stopped at Room 7 and tried the key when three shots were fired from inside the room. One of the bullets hit Thomas Pfaeffle in the torso. The sound engineer from Black Diamond, Wash., died two hours later at the hospital in Omak.

According to the statement of arresting officer Ty Sheehan of the Twisp Police Department, Gomez stated that he had been concerned about the lack of a deadbolt on the door and had wedged a chair against the doorknob. He was sleeping in the bed in his underwear wearing a belly-band holster with two loaded .40-caliber Glock 27 handguns.

He said he awoke to the sound of someone trying to get into the room and had seen the door open and “a full silhouette” of someone in his room. He responded “like it was automatic,” firing toward the door. Then, “after I came to my senses,” he got dressed and “took a defensive position in the bathroom.”

He came out of the room and surrendered to police about 50 minutes after the shooting. Besides the two handguns, police also found a Rock River AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the room. Gomez, who had some friends with him staying in a different room, said he was planning to use it to hunt coyotes.

Defense attorney Michael Haas – of Haas, MacDougal and Prince – said the charges are not supported by the evidence.

“We’re disappointed with the charges decision and we intend to defend against the charges vigorously,” he said. “It’s been our position all along that it was a horrible accident but nothing more than an accident.”

Haas said his team’s investigation shows that the door was open at least nine inches when the shots were fired, lending credence to Gomez’s claim that he saw a silhouette.

Twisp Police Chief Rick Balam said his investigation of the physical evidence and witness statements came to a different conclusion.

“There’s absolutely no question the door was closed when the shots were fired,” Balam said late last week.
Haas said Gomez would be pleading not guilty to the murder charge at his scheduled arraignment Thursday (July 30).

Services for Thomas Pfaeffle were held today (July 29) at St. Philomena’s Church in Des Moines, Wash., according to an obituary in The Seattle Times.