Justice Lost: Prosecutor Karl Sloan Ignores All Evidence

Court denies appeal of ruling denying writ of habeas corpus

By Ron Lee
Investigative Journalist

Tonasket, WA – Okanogan County Prosecutor Karl Sloan continues his quest to prosecute James Faire for the alleged murder of Debra Long, while also prosecuting James’ wife Angela on the charges of 1st Degree Criminal Trespass and 1st Degree Theft. By continuing to push these charges, while there is so much evidence to the contrary, Sloan is showing himself to be less concerned for justice than he is for protecting the image of a county government who, by way of Sheriff Frank Rogers’ statements to the press, took the unsubstantiated public position that James and Angela were guilty.

Sheriff Rogers in an interview by KREM 2 News suggested to the public he didn’t, “know what was going through their brains.” He further expressed how James and Angela were crazy, “to push it or escalate it this far, where somebody has to die,” concluding, “there is no sense in it.” But, James and Angela had been the victims of a conspired and staged attack where there was a premeditated attempt to vilify them by submitting a false police report – there is no disputing this fact. The truth is James and Angela’s actions are consistent with them trying to escape being harmed, out of self-preservation. All evidence to the contrary that Sloan was relying on has dissolved as, one by one, the conspirators have changed their stories.

THE CONSPIRACY

Michele St. Pierre was a patriot, and she was dying from cancer. Her involvement in the Ron Paul Revolution and the Tea Party movements led her to a friendship with James Faire and Angela Nobilis-Faire. Knowing the two were honorable people she asked them for help when her health turned for the worse. James and Angela sacrificed their own time and interests and rushed to the aid of a friend with unconditional love and support. Initially, they found Michele covered in filth, which they immediately cleaned up.

The Faires moved into her Stanwood, Washington home to help care for her. Not only did they take care of Michele, but they cooked and cleaned for the whole household, which included Michele’s “partner” Richard Finegold, her brother, Michael St. Pierre, and a roommate, George Abrantes. The men did little to aid in caring for Michele. The Faires also provided groceries for the whole house, and often ran errands for Richard Finegold who would give them lists of items to do and to retrieve from his Tonasket, Washington home, to which Richard had given them access to a key. Finegold had specifically asked James to make repairs at both homes.

While the Faires were living in Stanwood, Michele and Finegold approached the two with being part of creating a planned community on Finegold’s Tonasket property. Finegold had even given the Faires permission to store their property in his Tonasket home and on his property – his requests for them to get things from his home gave them an excuse to ensure their property was in good order.

As part of the Faires’ efforts to aid their friend, Angela began a GoFundMe for the purpose of helping ease the financial burden on Michele – it raised over nine thousand dollars, of which $6,000 was given in cash to Finegold and Michele, with the rest being used for groceries, gas, and other related expenses. Little did the Faires know their benevolence would later be unjustly vilified to the point where it could have cost them their lives.

It has been reported that Debra Long (aka Debra James) came into Michele’s life to help with a property foreclosure and immediately began taking control; that she feigned concern for Michele and Michele’s possessions, including her separate homes, as well as Richard Finegold’s home and property in Tonasket. Knowing the end was near for Michele, Long pushed for the properties to be put into a trust, of which she became a beneficiary along with Finegold. According to witnesses, when James and Angela weren’t present, Long would bad-mouth them, slighting their integrity. In fact, she created such a hostile environment that James and Angela had to leave the home, moving to Lake Stevens, Washington.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Michele lost her fight with cancer, and the nightmare truly began for James and Angela.

On the very day of Michele’s death, Long met with James and Angela, for a prearranged dinner at the Ram Restaurant in Marysville. During dinner, James and Angela informed Long that they wouldn’t be involved with the planned community. Long asked for two days to talk to Finegold and firm up a contract; the Faires held their position, reiterating they were no longer interested and mentioned they would be removing their belongings off Finegold’s property as soon as possible. When the Faires inquired into Michele’s health, Long replied, “She’s a feisty little bird,” and went on to say that she was fine, even though Long had been present when Michele had died earlier that morning. According to the Faires, the meeting was pleasant and not in any way confrontational – Long even hugged them as they parted…

But reports from witnesses say that behind the scenes the Faires were being maligned just following this meeting; that Long railed against the Faires trying to whip-up support against them by saying they had taken money from the GoFundMe account, which Long purported was supposed to have been Michele’s.

Three days later on June 18th, 2015, after breakfast, the Faires set out on the long journey to Tonasket. They also found an individual who would drive a secondary vehicle the 4-plus hours to Tonasket, and act as a helper to load their belongings. Along the way they messaged Linda Pries in hopes she could reach her husband, Jody, who had several large solar batteries of the Faires. Their hopes were that Jody could drop the batteries at Finegold’s property so that they could get them back on the same trip. They kept Jody, by way of Linda, apprised of their estimated time of arrival along the way. This is a pivotal fact, as Jody arrived a half hour prior to the Faires, letting those who were there know when James and Angela would arrive.

The Reagan Wing reported on June 18th, 2015:

“The Reagan Wing has learned, through Snohomish County authorities, that well-known author, speaker, state wide liberty leader and Ron Paul activist, RCLWA board member, Michele St. Pierre, passed from this mortal life at 4:45 AM Monday, June 15, 2015 and her passing was kept secret …

At the time of her death, Michele St. Pierre had more than 2,000 Facebook friends, a tribute to the impact of her political work. But by that time those allowed access to Michele had been narrowed to five people: a legal counselor who claimed a PhD in psychology, orchestrated Michele’s real property transactions in the face of foreclosure and acquired Michele’s power of attorney in the final weeks of her life, a truck driver with shamanic training and a propensity for physical intimidation, a childhood girl friend, her brother, and her live-in “partner” (the only actual political activist remaining among the “insiders”). That small circle, actually living in Michele’s house, not only gave Michele whatever care she received as her body wasted away, they formed the wall around her that controlled information and access. Former friends had been cut off and locked out, and the insiders limited communication, making it possible to hide the news of her passing.

A search of public documents reveals large changes to Michele’s estate in the final days of her life. On April 15th she granted the legal counselor/psychologist woman power of attorney over her Stanwood residence. Then the title to that real estate was transferred to a trust administered by the legal counselor/psychologist’s partner and recorded in Snohomish County on June 9, 2015.

Almost to the end, Michele’s doctors were refused access to see or speak with her. And the legal/psych counselor (whose legal power to act on Michele’s behalf expired with Michele’s death) attended a meeting with banished former friends and discussed Michele as though she were still living more than twelve hours after (we now know) Michele had passed away.

What was the purpose of all of this? When will the whole truth come out?

We suggest autopsies…”

To this date there has never been an investigation surrounding the circumstances of Michele St. Pierre’s death. Was it a result of her cancer? Could her condition have been exacerbated by her “caregivers”?

Although Richard Finegold had a medical power of attorney, and Michele became legally incompetent several months before she died according to witnesses, Michele had instructed Finegold that she didn’t desire chemotherapy. However, she never made it known she was adverse to surgery, or any other medical intervention. Finegold, who was reportedly under instructions from Long, refused to provide any such medical care when given the opportunity. Information received by the US~Observer suggests that Debra Long was simply waiting in the wings for Michele to die so she and others could collect on the trusts they had set up for Michele.

The only people that could potentially stand in their way were James and Angela. The conspirators knew the couple wouldn’t tolerate the theft of their friend’s estate, so something had to be done.

Unbeknownst to James and Angela, Long had Finegold report a break-in on his Tonasket home on June 17th, 2015. At that time, he claimed to know that it was James and Angela.

After reading the Reagan Wing article, and on their way to Tonasket, the Faires realized that something wasn’t right. Why else would Debra Long have lied by saying Michele was still alive? Just what was she up to? Little could have prepared them for what was about to happen.

THE ATTACK

At approximately 1:30 in the afternoon on June 18th, 2015, James and Angela pulled into Finegold’s Tonasket property located at 36 E. Sourdough Road in Okanogan County. Upon exiting their vehicle and walking toward the house they were accosted by 4 individuals: George Abrantes, Ruth Brookes, Michael St. Pierre and Debra Long.

What happened next occurred in a span of seconds…

Chaos ensued as Abrantes came at the couple wildly swinging his chain. People were screaming. James drew his firearm that he always carried, to hold off the attack as he and Angela withdrew to their truck – it worked for a moment and Abrantes temporarily halted his oncoming aggression. But when James entered the truck, Abrantes began smashing at the hood and worked his way to the driver side window. It held. Michael St. Pierre was at Angela’s window screaming and pounding.

James started the truck and did his best to escape the onslaught and navigate his way to safety. Both he and Angela knew Finegold had rifles in the home, and seeing as though they had no cell service, they drove to a safe place they knew they could call 911. They were followed by the only eye-witness to the event, 60 year-old Boyd McPherson.

McPherson has taken a deposition, describing in detail the unwarranted attack and the absolute innocence of James and Angela. Prosecutor Sloan is in possession of McPherson’s compelling testimony regarding the incident, and he has totally ignored it to date.

James and Angela never saw that they had struck Long while trying to escape. In fact, after getting into the truck they don’t remember seeing her at all, but their witness does. McPherson stated on the record, “Long was bent down in front of the truck, attempting to tie herself to the front of it.”

PROSECUTING SELF DEFENSE

After police arrived at their location, James and Angela were informed that there had been a death at the scene – Debra Long was dead.

“You have the right to remain silent…” is seemingly being used as an admission of guilt these days, at least in this case. While the group who attacked them gave contradicting statements, the Faires said nothing when being questioned and were the ones arrested and charged. You see, the police had Finegold’s false police report written the night before, therefore the detainment of James and Angela was simply a foregone conclusion.

Since the arrest, the charges of murder and assault, which Angela was informed by Correction Officer Billy Roberts she was being pursued for, disappeared. It was reported that Angela was greatly relieved, when during her initial probable cause hearing she noticed that the two charges had been crossed out on her information sheet. Angela was released from jail after posting bail on her remaining charges of 1st Degree Criminal Trespass and 1st Degree Theft. Her next hearing date is February 13th, 2017.

For James, it has been a different story. In fact, James sat in jail more than six months without an attorney after his first attorney withdrew from the case. James eventually filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus after he hired Attorney Stephen Pidgeon to represent him. The Okanogan Superior Court denied this Motion and Pidgeon subsequently filed an appeal. The WA State court of appeals somehow concluded that it is okay for a defendant to sit in jail for months on end with no attorney when they denied his appeal. Pidgeon has further recommended that Faire file a Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court and the Faires are currently making their decision on this appeal.

In the recent denial of James’ appeal by the WA State Supreme Court, the court took the position that a person who is still engaged in the process of being prosecuted can’t be wronged until which time there is a conviction. In other words, they’re okay with you continually being victimized until there is an outcome in your case – then they will look at it and determine if the cumulative wrongs you have been made to suffer are worthy of a granted appeal.

You would think a “justice system” would want to ensure justice was being dispensed as it was happening, not after the fact.

Justice also seems void in Prosecutor Karl Sloan, whose job it seems is to back his detective brother’s assertions in this case, along with the previously mentioned public stance the Sheriff’s Department took early on.

One thing is certain, the only evidence Sloan has is the eye-witness testimony from a group of individuals who knowingly participated in a staged attack on James and Angela-Nobilis Faire. But, even that testimony is crumbling. During depositions, Richard Finegold has recanted his prosecution-critical testimony. Basically, all Prosecution witnesses have become Defense witnesses and Karl Sloan is in possession of everyone’s statements.

Attorney Stephen Pidgeon is bringing in a reconstruction/reenactment specialist to recreate the events of June 18, 2015, when Debra Long, George Abrantes, Michael St. Pierre, Ruth Brooks and Richard Finegold arranged their ambush of the Faires, intending to either kill them or inflict great bodily harm, and executed an attempted kidnapping to accomplish their intent, resulting in the death of Debra Long.

James has an upcoming hearing on February 27th, 2017. Perhaps Sloan will do what is right and drop these outrageous charges against Faire at that time. But, that seems as probable as these conspirators – George Abrantes, Ruth Brooks, Richard Finegold and Michael St. Pierre – being charged with all of the crimes they allegedly engaged in; crimes like: conspiracy to commit a double homicide; conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree; conspiracy to commit assault in the first degree; conspiracy to give a false police report; and giving a false police report, among others. And, that’s only a partial accounting of what they did to the Faires!

The question remains with all who have investigated this factual travesty of justice; how did Karl Sloan ever gain control of the elected office of Prosecutor in Okanogan County, WA. How could a man, so void of any sense of justice be given the power to charge factually innocent people like James and Angela Faire with serious felony crimes?

James Faire said it best when he recently stated, “How does the system take a false police report, embellish it and charge the maximum crimes without investigating?” The simple answer to James’ question is that prosecutors have no oversight or accountability today, but they have all kinds of immunity – immunity from responsibility, immunity from lawsuits!

And, what about Michele St. Pierre? According to witnesses, there were many alleged crimes visited upon her by Long, Finegold and the rest; crimes like: conspiracy to defraud; fraud; undue influence; conspiracy to commit first degree murder; criminal intent to commit murder; and criminal mistreatment in the first degree. How does Michele go about getting justice when no one is fighting for her? That is a sad truth that is lost in all of this.

Fact is, Prosecutor Sloan should be ashamed of himself.

Editor’s Note: Anyone with factual information on this case or any of the players is urged to contact the US~Observer at 541-474-7885 or by sending an email to editor@usobserver.com.