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This story sounded similar to one that I've seen on TV, but it is different. Ronda Reynolds was a Washington State Trooper who, 11 months after her 2nd marriage began, was found dead in her closet with a gun shot wound to the head. It was ruled a suicide, then later ruled undetermined, and this flip flopped a couple of times. Ronda's mother, Barb Thompson, worked diligently (she should be a PI, seriously!) to prove that Ronda did not commit suicide but was, indeed, murdered. Spoiler alert, Barb was successful in having "suicide" removed from the death certificate after several years.
The evidence at the scene of Ronda's death sounds so obvious that suicide was not the manner of death. I think there were a bunch of lazy law enforcement and a lazy county coroner who didn't feel like investigating or working the case, had no compassion for the family, and didn't care about justice. They only cared about ruling her death a suicide and moving on.
One of the first indications that this was NOT a suicide was the fact that both of her hands were UNDER an electric blanket covering her body when she was found. The gun was found on the outside of the blanket. So how could she have been holding it? Plus, she was left-handed, and the entrance wound was in front of the right ear. Was she a contortionist or was she ambidextrous? Something that was not readily addressed in the book but was mentioned is that Ronda did not use electric blankets, nor did she "believe" in them, because she didn't like the idea of electricity running along your body while you slept. So, had she changed her belief on electric blankets and now was okay using them? This one was turned on and warm. I think the blanket was placed on top of her, after the murder, to keep the body warm and to stage the crime scene to make it look like she was sleeping in the closet when she woke up and decided to kill herself. ??
The biggest mystery and probably the most frustrating part of this book is the fact that no charges were brought against a suspect. And who would that suspect be? I think her current husband, Ron, (of 11 months) was involved. I think HIS ex-wife could have had knowledge of the murder details after the fact. But I also believe that Ronda's step son, Jonathan, may have been involved. Several theories are suggested at the end of this book, which are very good, but due to new information from new witnesses that came forward years later, I have a strong suspicion that Jonathan (and maybe one of his brothers or his friends) could have been involved. Oh, and this story made me think of Pam Hupp! Cheryl Gilbert was a self-proclaimed "best friend" of Ronda's and her story was a little wonky and inconsistent...
As I was doing some further investigation into a website that Ronda's mother had created (does not seem to exist any longer), I came across this update from 2011 in the Seattle Times. Upon FURTHER investigation, I came across this article in 2015. It seems that an inquest was held into Ronda's death, and the jury DID identify Ron and his son, Jonathan, as the persons responsible for Ronda's death.
What do you think really happened that night/morning? Did the jury get it right? It's sad when it takes years for a case to bring closure to a family - Ronda died in 1998.
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