By Al Camp
Chronicle staff

     OKANOGAN - A self-confessed drug dealer with high-level contacts was convicted late Thursday night, April 22, of killing a pregnant Tonasket woman last year.
     "Tonasket" Tansy Fay-Arwen Mathis, 30, was found guilty of aggravated first-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child, first-degree kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
     David Eugene Richards, 34, was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter plus the enhancement of being armed.
     The Spokane residents were on trial for the slaying of Michelle L. Kitterman, who was found March 1, 2009, stabbed 39 times on remote Stalder Road about 14.5 miles southwest of Tonasket. She was 11 weeks pregnant.
     After the verdicts were read and the jury polled, Kitterman family members left the courtroom. A short time later and with the clock nearing midnight, they could be heard outside cheering and hollering their approval.
     A sentencing date was not set, but it could be by July.
     Mathis faces life in prison on the aggravated first-degree murder charge.
     County prosecuting attorney Karl Sloan said Richards' prior convictions would bump up his sentence range, though no one knew that night exactly how many years he faces in prison.
     The weapon enhancement adds 18 months.
     Already convicted was Brent "Hollywood" Lane Phillips, 39, Spokane, who pleaded guilty last month to the reduced charges of first-degree murder - premeditated murder, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child, tampering with evidence and first-degree kidnapping.
     The state is recommending a sentence of 26 years for Phillips, who admitted stabbing and killing Kitterman. Phillips will be sentenced May 11.
     Phillips, Mathis and Richards testified in the trial.
     A fourth defendant, Lacey Kae Hirst-Pavek, 35, Crumbacher, awaits trial July 6 while out of custody on $250,000 bail on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter.
     "It's been a hard battle," said Richards' attorney, Anthony Frey. "I was glad he was not convicted of aggravated first-degree murder."
     "We're obviously disappointed," said Steve Graham, Mathis' attorney.
     Graham said he plans to appeal, with the big issue being Chelan County Superior Court Judge T.W. "Chip" Small, who presided over the trial, opting to hold the trial in Okanogan County and not change venue.