CLARK COUNTY, Wash. — A Brush Prairie man now faces a charge of accomplice to murder in the first degree in a suspected murder-for-hire plot against his wife. James Rummell was scheduled to appear in court for the first time Friday afternoon, but the hearing was pushed to Monday.
Deputies with the Clark County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) arrested Rummell for the second time Thursday evening. He is also facing a charge of accomplice to burglary in the first degree.
James Rummell allegedly arranged for his friend, Darrell Riley, to kill his wife under the guise of an interrupted burglary, according to probable cause documents. He told law enforcement that he and his wife, Lindy, had been having financial difficulties. He also said they had been behind on mortgage and car payments, and that he received unemployment compensation in 2023.
On Saturday, March 23, a neighbor called 911 to report someone broke into the Rummell family's home on Northeast 199th Street and shot Lindy Rummell. James Rummell had been doing taxes at a friend's house, court documents say. When he returned home, he and two friends, including the neighbor, discovered Lindy Rummell on the ground. CCSO deputies confirmed she had multiple gunshot wounds and was dead.
Court documents say there were "no obvious signs of forced entry" into the house. Drawers and cabinets were open, and a pillowcase containing items from the house was found.
The sheriff's office asked the public for help to find a truck reported stolen from the home. It was later found more than a hundred miles away in a rural part of Benton County. CCSO said it had been damaged by a fire that appeared to have been intentionally set to destroy evidence.
A day later, CCSO received a tip from a friend of Riley's who had picked him up in Monroe. They transferred items including two long guns into the truck, which Riley then set on fire, the friend said. Riley then said he had been "hired to kill a woman and shot her five times ... staging it to look like a burglary," court documents say.
Detectives arrested Riley in Eugene on a murder charge. They also arrested James Rummell, initially only for making false statements to a public servant, and served a second search warrant at his home. While Rummell was quickly released on bail on that initial charge, police re-arrested him Thursday as an alleged accomplice in his wife's murder.
During an interview, James Rummell recalled what happened on March 23 and said he went on a long drive after his wife left for work. He later admitted to driving down to Eugene to see Riley, who "was having a hard time," court documents say. He said they decided to go for a drive and went back up to Clark County, then he dropped Riley off in a rural area of Hockinson.
James Rummell told detectives he had met Riley in prison and they kept in touch. He denied any involvement in the murder or knowing that Riley was going to murder his wife, court documents say.
Detectives found probable cause to arrest Rummell and took him into custody on March 28.