By Al Camp
The Chronicle

     OKANOGAN - A Spokane man took up most of Wednesday morning testifying how he was told a pregnant Tonasket woman was killed last March.
     Brian George Hohman said he was told by Kim, the street name used by "Tonasket" Tansy Fay-Arwen Mathis, 30, that Brent "Hollywood" Lane Phillips, 29, stabbed and killed Michelle L. Kitterman early March 1, 2009.
     Phillips, Spokane, testified April 12 as part of a plea agreement. He said Mathis stabbed Kitterman in the abdomen with a pointed, three-sided file. Phillips said he used the file to finish killing the 25-year-old mother by stabbing her in the head, neck and back.
     Kitterman's body was found on the side of a private driveway later that day just off Stalder Road about 14.5 miles southwest of Tonasket.
     Phillips pleaded guilty March 29 to reduced charges of first-degree murder -- premeditated murder, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child, tampering with evidence and first-degree kidnapping.
     The state said it would recommend imprisonment for 26 years at sentencing May 11.
     Mathis and David Eugene Richards, 34, both from Spokane, are on trial for aggravated first-degree murder or, in the alternative, first-degree murder with premeditation, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child, tampering with evidence and first-degree kidnapping.
     A fourth defendant, Lacey Kae Hirst-Pavek, 34, Crumbacher, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Hirst-Pavek allegedly hired Mathis to find people to rough up Kitterman and cause her to abort, court records said. She has a trial date of May 4.
     Hirst-Pavek's husband, Danny Pavek, allegedly was the father of Kitterman's unborn child.
     A material witness warrant has been issued for Pavekís arrest.

     Hohman testified for nearly two hours about a conversation he had with Mathis, who told him how Phillips stabbed Kitterman to death.
     Hohman said he used to get methamphetamine from Mathis, who another man at a homeless shelter told him about.
     He met Richards while trying to get dope from Mathis, he said. Hohman also described the alleged murder weapon as something Richards cherished.
     Mathis left a voice mail for Hohman asking for his help.
     Hohman said he did not call back right away.
     "I got drunk and wanted to get high, so I called the number back from the message," he said.
     Hohman said he finally caught up with Mathis, who was with "taxman" (Phillips) and another man.
     "What is a taxman?" Sloan asked.
     "I am pretty sure he got that name going around taxing people -- doing whatever it takes to get people to pay you."
     Mathis appeared frightened or nervous around Phillips, Hohman said.
     "She told me," Hohman said, before pausing for a long time. "They were to pick this girl up and introduce Hollywood as the man."
     "What as the purpose of the contact?" Sloan said.
     "She said the girl was going to roll on her," Hohman said. "She was going to rat her out."
     Mathis allegedly asked Hohman to kidnap Phillips and to find a "Shelly," who had rented the SUV, and tell her to not talk.
     Shelly, who allegedly is Hirst-Pavek, was described by Mathis to Hohman as "short and chubby and with really short hair and glasses."
     Mathis allegedly told Hohman that Kitterman's killing happened quickly on a back road and the weapon was tossed away on a trip to Republic.
     Mathis allegedly told Hohman that Kitterman got free of Phillips, and was running and screaming toward Mathis at an SUV, rented by Hirst-Pavek, when Phillips stabbed her four times and told Mathis that Kitterman was dead.
     After being told about the death, Hohman said he contacted law enforcement and then called Richards.
     "He goes, ëThere are things you don't know and I know and we need to talk,í " Hohman said. "I was arrested (on a warrant) on my way to have that conversation."
     Steve Graham, who represents Mathis, read from a statement that Hohman alleged Mathis said: " 'We were only trying to scare her and Hollywood killed her,í right?"
     "I don't remember that," Hohman said.
     When asked if Phillips acted "freaky," Hohman said, "I remember him at my house once. He was acting pretty damn freaky."
     Hohman said Okanogan County Detective Mike Murray had always been respectful but that he felt like Spokane Detective Kip Hollenbeck was railroading him into saying things during an interview March 25, 2009.
     "I won't forget that day," he said. "I was treated like complete trash."
     Hohman said Hollenbeck kept pushing for details, such as where he was sitting in a vehicle to know so many details of Kitterman's death.
     "I was just trying to help, trying to tell the story as it was told to me," he said.
     Tony Frey, who represents Richards, went over the sequence of Kitterman's death as Mathis told it to Hohman. Frey wanted to be sure Mathis never once said he killed Kitterman, that it was Phillips.
     "Everything I told you was what Tansy said," he said.
     Sloan played a portion of the taped interview in hopes it would remind Hohman what he told detectives. Hohman stood fast, saying it did not sound like something he said.

     Also Wednesday, attorneys went over the upcoming witness schedule.
     Sloan said he expects the state to rest, most likely on Monday, though it is possible to wrap up its side of the case by late Friday.
     One of the state's final witnesses will be Dr. Gina Fino, who will testify about Kitterman's autopsy.
     Defense attorneys would take the rest of next week for their witnesses, with one possible exception.
     Graham said he scheduled a pathologist from Vancouver, B.C., after the state said it would rest two and a half weeks into the trial.
     Chelan County Superior Court Judge T.W. "Chip" Small asked why he should put the trial on hold for a week before hearing the pathologist.
     Sloan said it was likely he'd seek to suppress the testimony due to topics to be covered.
     The judge said he'd prefer to get all testimony done by Friday, April 23, with closing and jury instructions to follow.
     "I don't anticipate a quick result. I figure the jury will take its time," Small said of a time frame for a verdict.

     The first witnesses Wednesday morning included Glenna Brown, an emergency medical technician from Tonasket, and Marvin Hild, Malott,
     In three minutes on the stand, Brown told how she walked on patches of snow to Kitterman's body to check if she was alive before returning on the same route.
     Hild received the SUV rented by Hirst-Pavek. He told of taking it home and parking it until it until replaced by Sunrise Chevrolet with a van.
     He said he did not notice any odors.
     The jury also heard testimony from Capt. Michael George with Stevens County Sheriff's Office and Tom Call, who lives on Stalder Road.
     George told in about two minutes how he was contacted by Hohman and how he got that information to the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office.
     Call said he was checking calving cows at 1-1:30 a.m. March 1.
     "The dogs were really upset," Call said. "I finally got the dogs settled down and heard a vehicle."
     Call said he could not see the vehicle since it sounded like it was over a hill.
     "It was sitting and idling," he said.
     Call said he did not hear any screaming.