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Charges refiled in 2012 Vancouver Lake murder

By Paris Achen
Published: May 21, 2014, 5:00pm

Charges have been refiled against a Vancouver man accused of assisting convicted murderer Matthew Starr in covering up the February 2012 shooting death of Starr’s roommate near Vancouver Lake.

Zachary J. Mattson, 21, of Vancouver appeared today in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance, tampering with physical evidence, making false or misleading statements to a public servant and obstructing a law enforcement officer. Judge David Gregerson held Mattson in lieu of $30,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Shon Bogar to defend him. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges June 5.

Starr, 21, admitted in November to shooting his roommate, Joshua R. Schenk, 25, to death after they went target shooting near Vancouver Lake with Starr’s two friends, Mattson and Zackery Searcy.

Starr initially told investigators that one of the shooting party’s guns accidentally discharged, striking Schenk, and Starr then shot Schenk in the back of the head to put him out of his misery. In November, however, he pleaded guilty to the first-degree premeditated murder. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Mattson allegedly helped Starr drag Schenk’s body to a resting place about 4 or 5 feet away from the shooting location and cover it with a plastic tarp, according to court papers.

He was arrested in January 2013 and charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance and intimidating a witness, but charges were dismissed in February 2013 because more investigation was needed, according to Kasey Vu, who was the prosecutor on the case at the time.

“That was before I got on the case,” Deputy Prosecutor Dan Gasperino said today. “Then, the detectives presented the case they had to me on Mattson, and we decided at that point we had enough to proceed with the charges.”

This story will be updated.

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