SEATTLE -- New evidence revealed in a KOMO 4 Problem Solver investigation could be critical in determining how a former Washington State Trooper died.

Ronda Reynold's death was labeled a suicide. But our investigation raised questions about the cause of death, and the evidence we revealed from gunfire tests and a new forensic pathologist may be instrumental in officially changing Reynold's cause of death from a suicide to a homicide. Ultimately, it will be up to a court to decide.

After ten years, much of the original evidence in Reynolds' death investigation was lost or destroyed. So to understand what happened, we returned to the scene of her death. We talked to new experts, and the original detective on the case. All believe authorities botched the investigation by calling it a suicide.

"It was a murder in 1998 - it's a murder today," former detective Jerry Berry said.

They believe it was murder set to look like suicide. "That's a rearranged scene," said Forensic Pathologist Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, who is no relation to the case. "That's a staged scene."

Now the evidence the Problem Solvers revealed will be critical when a judge and perhaps a jury takes a new look at Reynolds' death.

"Once we get in court, we expect the truth's going to come out. Right now we're not convinced that it has," said attorney Royce Ferguson."

Reynold's mother, Barb Thompson, is suing Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson. Wilson has changed Ronda's death certificate four times, ultimately settling on "suicide." But from the beginning, Thompson believed her daughter's death investigation was botched.

"I knew that I had a job to do," said Thompson, "that I had to get to the bottom of it and find out what happened to my daughter."

The Problem Solvers tested a number of conclusions reached in the original investigation.

First, Reynold's body was found lying on the floor of her bedroom closet.

And witnesses said they never heard a gunshot. We enlisted the help of firearms expert Marty Hayes. He found the gunshots were louder than a phone, an alarm clock -- too loud not to hear.

Third, forensic pathologist Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, after reviewing the case, said of Reynold's fatal wound, "This is not a self-inflicted wound." The pathologist has performed some 2,000 autopsies in his 30 years of practice

"It's so unusual that I've never seen it in a suicide, OK? Never, ever, ever, ever in over 30 years," he said.

Thompson and her attorney hope all this evidence will convince a jury that someone killed Reynolds.

"Then there might be some other things that flow from that," said Ferguson, "maybe a re-opened homicide investigation."

It could still be months before Reynold's mother gets her case in front of a jury. Ultimately, she hopes that a jury will at least decide Ronda did not kill herself but that someone else is responsible.