OKANOGAN – Police in Spokane and Ferry County are assisting the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office in searching for a fourth suspect in the death of Michelle Kitterman, Tonasket, and is investigating additional people suspected of being involved in Kitterman’s March 1 death.
     Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said the Spokane Police major crimes unit is searching for David Eugene Richards, 33, Spokane. Richards is wanted on suspicion of first-degree murder in Kitterman’s death.
     Two people, Tansy Fae Arwen Mathis, 29, and Brent Lane Phillips, 38, were charged in Okanogan County Superior Court with first-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child and tampering with physical evidence.
     A third suspect, Lacey K. Hirst-Pavek, 33, Tonasket, was arrested March 31 at her parents’ Tonasket home on suspicion of first-degree murder.
     Rogers said Richards is believed to be in the Spokane area.
     Others are being investigated in Ferry County on suspicion of helping to clean up a vehicle allegedly used in Kitterman’s death, Rogers said.
     The Ferry County Sheriff’s Office is assisting Rogers’ detectives in interviewing people.
     The vehicle allegedly was used during the killing and later was seized by detectives for processing, Rogers said. Mathis and others allegedly cleaned the car out in Ferry County and then Hirst-Pavek returned it to her place of business, from which it had been rented, Rogers said.
     “The investigation shows that Hirst-Pavek was a person of interest from the beginning, but it took time to put the case together,” Sheriff Frank Rogers said.
     Rogers said it appeared that Hirst-Pavek’s husband was having an affair with Kitterman and that she was pregnant. When Hirst-Pavek learned of it she had began making comments that she wanted Kitterman dead and had also contacted individuals herself to have Kitterman beaten up, the sheriff alleged.
     Hirst-Pavek allegedly contacted Mathis and made an agreement for Mathis to take care of Kitterman, he said.
     Hirst-Pavek was booked into the Okanogan County Jail March 31 on suspicion of first-degree murder and manslaughter.
     Richards was contacted earlier during the investigation by detectives but stated that an ice pick he owned had been stolen by Phillips and was used to kill Kitterman, but denied any involvement, Rogers said.
     “The investigation now shows that, along with Mathis and Phillips, Richards was also present at the scene that night,” Rogers said. He alleged Richards was involved in stabbing Kitterman with the ice pick.
     “The investigation is still ongoing and will continue for several more weeks, with possible additional arrests involving people who aided in the destruction of evidence or attempted to assist the suspects,” the sheriff said.
     He said it’s not clear what the others knew when helping to clean up the vehicle.