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Family sought help before murder near Okanogan

Both sides in case say mental health system fell short

The Columbian
Published: May 18, 2014, 5:00pm

OKANOGAN — Last year, in the heat of a dispute over a missing Taser, Ronald E. Moore shot and killed his 62-year-old father in the rural home near Okanogan where they both lived.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty in Okanogan County Superior Court to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing Raymond Moore on March 21, 2013.

Both the prosecutor and defense lawyer say Ronald Moore, 32, was not the only one to blame for his father’s death. A mental health system that failed the Moore family’s attempts to get their son the help he needed also contributed, they say.

“It’s just a real tragedy from every aspect,” said Okanogan County Prosecutor Karl Sloan. “Both the loss of Ray, and the long-term incarceration of Ron. But there aren’t a lot of other options,” he said.

Raymond Moore was the owner of First Choice Muffler in Okanogan, and well known in the community.

Sheriff Frank Rogers declined to comment on the homicide case, but said dealing with people who suffer from mental illnesses is a huge issue for his officers, and at the jail. “I see it all the time, and it’s frustrating. There’s just no place for them to go,” he said.

Sloan said Ronald Moore had a history of mental illness, and a history of problems surrounding it. He said medical privacy laws prevent him from talking specifically about those issues. But, he said, Moore and his family experienced the same kind of problem with the system that countless other people with mental illnesses experience. “Basically, there are two institutions, and they are severely over-allocated,” Sloan said. It can take months just to get someone in for evaluation, he said. “But they don’t have the resources or bed space, so they will look for ways, ultimately, to find this person should be released.”

As for Ronald Moore, he said, “They tried to get him help, and they were unsuccessful.”

Moore’s family declined to comment, and a diagnosis for his mental illness was not mentioned in his court file.

According to the arrest warrant for Ronald Moore filed with the charges, his mother called police at about 8:20 p.m. that night to report that her son was intoxicated and threatening to kill them. She told them he had been off his medications, he was acting unstable, and they were very afraid of him.

She pleaded for help.

When deputies arrived, Deborah Moore told them that her husband had gotten rid of all of their weapons because of their son’s behavior, but decided to keep one for their personal safety.

She had also hidden her son’s Taser, the affidavit said. When he went looking for it, he found the .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun that his father had hidden under a bed. And when he confronted them with it, Deborah Moore and her mother ran outside and called police, but Raymond stayed, apparently trying to calm his son.

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“As they were exiting the residence, Deborah hears shots,” the arrest affidavit said. A deputy arrived at the scene, heard more shots and took the two women to a safe location while he waited for backup.

During a two-hour standoff, a deputy was able to speak by phone to Raymond Moore, but his breathing was labored. Worried that he was dying, they broke into the residence and when Ronald Moore pointed a gun at them, one of the officers shot him. Ronald Moore “turned to his father lying on the floor and said, ‘I’m sorry dad,”‘ the affidavit said. When officers got to him, Raymond Moore was dead.

Ronald Moore was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, and then incarcerated at Airway Heights Corrections Center in Spokane.

When he was arrested at Sacred Heart, Moore told the officer that he lived with his mother and father, but could not remember their names. “Moore appeared to be confused and could not believe that he had gotten drunk and murdered his father,” the officer’s statement said. He also wrote that Moore broke down several times while he read him the arrest warrant. He asked the hospital to put him on a suicide watch.

Moore’s public defender Melissa MacDougall said Dr. Mark McClung, a medical doctor and clinical instructor at the University of Washington’s Department of Psychiatry, evaluated Moore and helped craft the plea deal.

“My client suffered for years and the mental health system failed him and his family,” she wrote in an email. “Our hope is that out of this tragedy, change in our current system will come.”

The prosecutor said Moore expressed a desire to plead guilty early in the case, and may have agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder, which was initially charged. Sloan said there was evidence of premeditation, but he agreed to reduce the charge after taking his mental illness into account. Moore’s issues, he said, didn’t rise to the level of insanity or incompetency to stand trial. “But there’s no denying there was a history of mental illness, and issues surrounding that.”

Moore also pleaded guilty to theft of a firearm, two counts of second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm. His only criminal history was fourth-degree assault, domestic violence, in December 2012.

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