Battalion fire chief charged with strangling wife in Clark County homicide case
Editor’s Note: This story shares details of domestic violence that may be disturbing for some readers.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A local battalion fire chief accused of strangling his wife to death made an appearance in a Clark County courtroom on Monday.
Kevin West was accused of murder after a medical examiner determined his wife’s sudden death on Jan. 8 was a homicide due to “blunt neck trauma.” He is currently employed by the Camas-Washougal Fire Department and has been in the fire service for 22 years.
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Deputies say his wife, Marcelle, died shortly after West called 911 to report she was having a seizure. During the call, he reportedly told dispatchers she had stopped breathing and he was going to give her CPR before medics arrived.
Marcelle was declared dead at 5:11 a.m. Court documents show West had told detectives he and his wife “had a normal night and that he picked up dinner for them at the Chinese Café & Restaurant in Washougal. They ate at home and watched movies.” West said he woke up to find Marcelle having a seizure after the couple went to bed.
However, investigators found Kevin seemed to have given contradictory statements when they accessed the couple’s text messages, which revealed “marital and financial problems,” according to court records.
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Police also reported calls from those close to the Wests claiming he had been having an affair with another woman in the months leading up to Marcelle’s death. A probable cause document shows West had sent text messages to his mom that seem to indicate his intentions to divorce Marcelle to be with the other woman.
An autopsy revealed Marcelle had bruising under her jaw, brain swelling, and hemorrhaging on the back and sides of her neck. Detectives said “these injuries are consistent with strangulation,” and added that “there did not appear to be evidence of a natural cause or disease attributable to her death.”
According to the probable cause document, detectives determined that no third party had been in the home at the time of Marcelle’s death. Detectives also said West would have had to choose to strangle his wife in order for her death to occur.
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“Intentional asphyxiation is frequently highly violent and takes more than a moment in point of time for the event to lead to death, suggesting the offender repeatedly chooses to continue the assault over a period of time, failing to stop until the victim loses consciousness and dies,” the probable cause document read.
West faces first-degree murder constitutive domestic violence, and his bail had been set at $1.5 million. His next court appearance is April 9.
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