Saturday,

June 24, 2000



Alleged killer's father held

Everett man charged in drug felonies as son pleads innocent

By SCOTT NORTH Herald Writer

The father of a teen charged with murdering two young men when a May 30 fistfight turned into a gunbattle joined his son behind bars Friday after being charged with three drug-related felonies.

Dale B. Cramm, 44, was arrested at his attorney's Everett office moments before his son, Dennis J. Cramm, 17, pleaded innocent to second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Jesse Stoner and Jason Thompson, both 18.

The elder Cramm was charged late Friday morning with possessing marijuana with intent to sell and possession of heroin and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The drugs, a scale and packaging materials were found in the Cramms' south Everett home when police searched it after the shootings, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor John Adcock alleged in Superior Court papers.

Dale Cramm was jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail. In an affidavit, Adcock argued high bail was warranted because the elder Cramm "constitutes a danger to the community."

Evidence suggests Dale Cramm was "actively engaged" in selling marijuana, including to at least one juvenile, and his home contained "a large amount of firearms including high-power semiautomatic rifles," Adcock wrote.

Moreover, evidence suggests Dale Cramm played a key role in helping set the stage for the violence that took two young lives, and he is suspected of since hampering the investigation, the prosecutor alleged.

Stoner and Thompson died when seven bullets hit the car they were riding in after a planned fistfight between Dennis Cramm and a 16-year-old south Snohomish County youth erupted in gunfire. The fight reportedly was watched by a few dozen young people and as many as 10 adults, including Cramm's father.

Dale Cramm "was an active participant in the staging and planning of this fight," Adcock alleged. "The staging and planning activities involved, among other issues, hiding a substantial number of weapons, including assault rifles in the area where the fight occurred."

Tests on 12 shells found at the scene show bullets were fired from two SKS semiautomatic rifles. Police found three SKS rifles in the Cramm home but tests show none of those weapons fired the fatal bullets, according to court papers.

"The circumstances demonstrate a high likelihood that either the defendant remains in possession of those SKS assault rifles or was involved in their disappearance," Adcock alleged.

Dale Cramm's arrest now brings to four the number of people being jailed in connection with the shootings.

John Michael Jauregui, 24, a housemate of the Cramms, was charged Wednesday with rioting, a felony described as being armed with a deadly weapon and acting with three or more people to unlawfully use and threaten force against another. He was jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Jauregui was carrying two handguns in the waistband of his pants while Dennis Cramm fought the other teen, and somebody on the Cramm side warned they would "start blasting" if anyone attempted to interfere in the fistfight, according to court papers.

Investigators believe the gunfire began after Dale Cramm tried to stop the fight about 10 minutes after it began when his son tired. A 17-year-old south Snohomish County teen has admitted that he briefly fought with Dale Cramm, court papers show.

Anthony Bakari Loius Bovan, 21, who was arrested earlier this month for allegedly intimidating a witness to the shooting, is suspected of firing several shots, at least some of which were aimed into the air, according to court papers.

A witness early this week came forward who told detectives that Bovan has said he and another person disarmed Jauregui and also took other guns from the scene, according to a search warrant filed Friday in Superior Court.

The witness told detectives that Bovan admitted firing six shots, including an unspecified number at Dennis Cramm after the teen allegedly grabbed an SKS and began blasting away, the search warrant says.

Investigators on Tuesday searched the Seattle home of Bovan's father, and recovered a handgun with its serial number filed away and ammunition for various types of firearms.

Bovan was in Everett District Court on Friday where he was ordered jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail for investigation of an unrelated burglary and domestic violence assault involving a woman early this week.