Two homicide suspects due in court today

Two men accused in apparently unconnected homicides are both due to make first appearances Monday morning in Clark County Superior Court.

At the first appearances, a judge will ask each man if he has an attorney and assign a court-appointed attorney at public expense if necessary. Bail may also be set, and an arraignment on the charges will be scheduled.

Chris D. Paul, 31, was arrested early Saturday by Vancouver police after a report of an altercation in a parking lot at the Village at Cascade Park apartments, 501 S.E. 123rd Ave. Vancouver police said Paul lives at the complex and had left his apartment at about 4:30 a.m. to respond to a noise problem in the parking lot. That apparently led to an altercation and a shooting. The dead man’s name should be released today.

Also on Saturday Vancouver police announced officers had booked Matthew E. Starr, 19, into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of homicide. He is accused of killing Joshua R. Schenk, 25, of Vancouver.

Schenk’s body was found Friday past the end of Erwin O. Rieger Memorial Highway, a dead-end road north of Vancouver Lake. The motive and cause of death in that case has not been revealed, but more details should be available after the court hearing.

The two homicides in two days are unusual in Vancouver, where the annual total averages less than you can count on two hands. Two years ago there were no homicides in the city.