Judge: Reynolds' death was not suicide, coroner to reassess cause

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By Tracy Vedder

Summary

The word "suicide" must be removed from the death certificate of former state trooper Ronda Reynolds following a ruling by a judge on Friday. But the legal battle may not be over for the trooper's mother.

Story Published: Jan 8, 2010 at 7:23 PM PDT

Story Updated: Jan 9, 2010 at 4:32 PM PDT

Judge: Reynolds' death was not suicide, coroner to reassess cause
CHEHALIS, Wash. -- It is now official.

The word "suicide" must be removed from the death certificate of former state trooper Ronda Reynolds following a ruling by a judge on Friday.

The decision is another victory for Reynolds' mother Barb Thompson, but her court battle might not be over.

"At least we know now. Her death certificate will never have 'suicide' on it," she said.

In 1998, Reynolds was found dead of a single gunshot to the head. Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson ruled her death as a suicide.

But Thompson has been fighting ever since to remove that stigma from her daughter's name after the lead detective in the investigation outlined a number of inconsistencies in the case. And the grieving mother finally won that fight on Friday.

"That's a good thing. That's a really good thing," Thompson said.

In November, a jury unanimously decided that coroner Terry Wilson was wrong when he called the death a suicide. At that time, Wilson said he wouldn't change her death certificate, and left the issue in the judge's hands.

"That gives me authority to issue a mandate to him to change it, and I'll do that," said Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks.

But Hicks is leaving it up to Wilson to decide what other cause - other than suicide - to put on the death certificate.

Jury forewoman Angel Hubbard says everyone on the jury thought the cause of death was "homicide."

"I can say unanimously for all of us - we even talked about that - that we definitely felt it would not, it should not be undetermined, but (move) more towards homicide," said Hubbard.

And it's still not over. Wilson still has the opportunity to appeal this decision making this already-long court fight just that much longer.

Wilson's attorney said he won't comment until he meets with the coroner, who was not present in court on Friday.

"They're getting tired of the case, but they haven't given up," said Thompson's attorney, Royce Ferguson.

Thompson says regardless of what Wilson does, she considers Friday's ruling a moral victory for her daughter's memory.

Wilson has not returned KOMO News' calls. It could be weeks before it's known whether he will appeal the decision.