July 22, 2008

TD man faces abduction charges
Wyatt Mitchell is charged with kidnapping ex-wife

By KATHY GRAY
of The Chronicle

     A The Dalles man who allegedly kidnapped his ex-wife and threatened repeatedly to kill her is in Skamania County Jail after being arrested at midday Saturday near North Bonneville.
     Wyatt Mitchell, 43, reportedly forced his former wife, Janette, out of her residence in the 900 block of East Eighth Street and into a car at about 9:30 Saturday morning.
     He crossed the Columbia River and allegedly drove through at least two Washington counties looking for a gun with which to kill her, before Skamania County Sheriff’s deputy Summer Scheyer made the noontime stop that led to his arrest.
     Chris Lanz, deputy prosecuting attorney for Skamania County, said Scheyer stopped the car in response to a teletype request from The Dalles Police for assistance with a welfare check on the domestic disturbance.
     According to an affidavit Lanz shared, Janette said Wyatt Mitchell took several kitchen knives with him at the time of the kidnapping and later punched her in the mouth and thigh. She said he visited her former stepbrother in Clark County in an unsuccessful attempt to borrow a gun and made repeated statements of his intent to kill her, and perhaps himself, in various ways.
     Those included driving off Cape Horn and jumping with her off the top of Beacon Rock, according to the affidavit. Janette also told Deputy Scheyer that Mitchell had swerved toward an on-coming semi while driving back east through Skamania County.
     When Scheyer stopped them at Milepost 36.8 near North Bonneville, she first secured Janette’s safety by staging a false arrest and placing her in the patrol car. Then, after Mitchell identified himself with what she determined to be a false name and birthdate, she called fellow deputy Ty McKay to arrest him.
     Mitchell faces charges of kidnapping and attempted murder in Skamania County and is scheduled for arraignment there July 31.
     He will also, at a minimum, face burglary and kidnapping charges in Wasco County, said district attorney Eric Nisley, who had not yet seen police reports on the case.