Suspect in Devin killings also tied to 1994 Grangeville double homicide, according to prosecutors

The man suspected of the murders of 76-year-old Edwina “Eddy” Devin and her 57-year-old son, Michael Devin, one month ago is also the leading suspect in an unsolved 1994 double murder in Grangeville, according to the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office.

Chief Deputy Criminal Prosecutor April Smith made the connection during a Tuesday bond hearing for 56-year-old Richard Ross, who is homeless but has family ties in the north central Idaho region. Smith requested Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge Sunil Ramalingam set no bond for Ross, and cited his alleged connection to an unsolved case as a reason to ensure that he remains in custody.

“There is also another double homicide case that we are reopening (the 1994 double murder in Grangeville), and the defendant is the primary suspect in that case as well,” Smith said.

Smith didn’t mention the 1994 Peeples case by name, but Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman confirmed that she was referring to the strangulation deaths of Bruce and Lynn Peeples in 1994. Coleman also asked that anyone with information in the Peeples case to contact the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office.

Smith said the state originally requested a bond of $1 million based on the violent nature of the charges in the Devin murders, but the additional information about the older case led the state to request no bond be set.

Smith said Ross also has other criminal history, including a 2006 attempted murder charge in California. Ross later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of shooting at an inhabited building in that case, she said. His ties to the state of California, where his father lives, also make him a flight risk, she added.

Ross apparently fled to California after allegedly committing the Devin murders, Smith said. He returned Sunday and made statements to his sister in Clarkston that led her to believe he was responsible for the Devin killings. She turned him in the same day, and police from multiple agencies arrested him at the Clarkston Motel 6 without incident Sunday evening.

“So the state is also worried about not only the risk to the public, but also his future court appearances,” Smith said.

Ramalingam granted the request for no bond, appointed Lewiston attorney Gregory Rauch to represent Ross and set a Nov. 10 preliminary hearing in the case. No charges have been filed against Ross in the Peeples case, but Smith said Nez Perce County is taking the lead on both double homicide investigations.

If convicted, Ross faces a maximum sentence of life in prison or death. Coleman said he hasn’t decided whether to pursue the death penalty for Ross.

On April 4, 1994, Grangeville volunteer firefighters found the beaten, tortured and strangled bodies of the Peeples when they responded to a report of a house fire. They were in a back bedroom of their home, lying face-down with their bodies covered in soot. Fires had been intentionally set throughout the house with shredded paper and candles in an apparent attempt to cover up the crimes, but the windows were closed and the fires only smoldered.

Five months before Bruce Peeples died, a suspicious fire destroyed his Main Street business in Grangeville, Uncle’s Pawn Shop. There were rumors at the time that his business dealings were suspicious, and he had been under investigation by state and federal wildlife officers for possible ties to the illegal trade of exotic animal artifacts.

A police report stated Bruce Peeples was having business problems when he died, and had filed several lawsuits in District Court. News coverage from the time indicated that investigators had a primary suspect in mind from the beginning of the case, but no arrests were ever made. The suspect was never publicly named, and eventually moved from the area.

Coleman said he couldn’t discuss what evidence may tie Ross to the Peeples case. Ross went by the name Richard Satterfield at the time of that killing, and that name is listed as an alias on charging documents in the Devin case.

Coleman said he couldn’t speak to why Ross decided to come back to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. But according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the Lewiston Police Department, he told his sister he was going to California and Oregon to say goodbye to his father and his daughter. He planned to return in three weeks and let her call the police, at which time he planned to commit suicide by pulling a weapon in the presence of officers and “let police shoot him.”

Eddy Devin’s family found her body in her home on Cove Road near Grangeville on Sept. 30. The next morning, Lewiston first responders found Michael Devin’s remains inside a burning 2007 GMC pickup truck at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Nez Perce Drive east of Juniper Drive in Lewiston. Both were asphyxiated, according to police.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com.