Former PNW Firefighter Sentenced to 25 Years

Kevin West, a 22-year veteran of the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, initially told first responders his wife, Marcelle "Marcy" West, had suffered a seizure on January 8, 2024. He, a battalion chief, even argued with the 911 dispatcher about the proper way to perform CPR. Responding medics, some of whom were his colleagues, trusted his account. An initial autopsy did not find anything suspicious, but tips to law enforcement prompted a more thorough second examination. That investigation revealed Marcy West's cause of death was asphyxia with blunt force trauma to the neck, and her death was ruled a homicide. Prosecutors argued Kevin West strangled his wife to pursue an extramarital affair with Cynthia Ward, an old flame he had reconnected with on Facebook. Investigators found love letters where West wrote to Ward that 2024 would be "our year" and that they would be together. West and Ward became engaged less than eight months after his wife's death. During the two-week trial, West's defense argued that Marcy's death was due to persistent health issues and that injuries to her neck were from a massage therapist. The Clark County Superior Court jury deliberated for just over two hours before convicting West of first- and second-degree murder, both with domestic violence findings. At his sentencing, West tearfully maintained his innocence in the murder, apologizing only for the affair, which he called his "only wrongdoing." The couple's adult children gave conflicting statements; their son asked for leniency, while their daughter accused her father of trying to use his children to shield himself.