Another arrest in deputy's killing

By Pat Jenkins

The Dispatch
A 29-year-old woman from Roy is the latestt to face charges in connection with the slaying of a Pierce County Sheriff Department deputy in Frederickson.
Samantha Dawn Jones was formally charged Jan. 24 by county prosecutors with murder in the first degree and kidnapping in the first degree for her alleged role in the death of Daniel McCartney.
Authorities claim Jones went with other suspects to the house where McCartney was fatally shot after a break-in and attempted robbery, and that Jones had an ongoing dispute over drugs with one of the people living there.
Jones was arrested Jan. 23, about two weeks after the incident.
Also facing murder charges after being arrested earlier are Frank William Pawul, 32, and Brenda Kaye Troyer, 52. Pawul was also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.
Authorities said Pawul and a second man, Henry Carden, were driven by Troyer on Jan. 7 to a Frederickson neighborhood, where the men tried to rob the occupants of a residence that was described by police as a “drug house.” When the home's occupants called 9-1-1 a half-hour before midnight to report intruders, McCartney responded to the scene, chased Pawul and Carden on foot when they jumped out of windows and ran, and exchanged shots in a brief gun battle that ended with McCartney and Carden dead.
Pawul was captured the next day and Troyer was tracked down and arrested 24 hours later.
After those arrests, authorities said an investigation was continuing and indicated that more arrests were possible
“As promised, we are going to hold accountable everyone responsible for the murder of deputy McCartney,” said Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist last week as Jones' arrest and charges against her were announced. “Numerous detectives and deputies from the Sheriff Department have been tirelessly working this case and will continue to do so. The investigation is ongoing.”
The prosecutor's office gave this account of post-shooting incidents that led to the arrest of Jones:
Officers secured the area around the crime scene in an effort to locate Pawul. At approximately 8:10 the morning after the shooting, an officer reported a male matching the description of the suspect was walking toward a traffic control point. That person was later identified as Pawul, who was taken into custody.
Pawul told officers he was walking from his girlfriend’s house. Officers were able to identify the woman Pawul referred to as Brenda Troyer.
Further investigation revealed ccll phone alls and text messages between Pawul, Troyer, and Jones.
Cell tower and GPS coordinates placed Jones’ phone with Carden, Pawul, and Troyer the night of the murder of the deputy. Pawul, Troyer and Jones' phones were registering off the same cell towers as the vehicle traveling to the home where the break-in and shooting happened.
As with Troyer's phone, Jones' phone remained at the scene for some time before 9-1-1 was called by residents of the house. Jones' phone hen traveled to the same location oasTroyer's after McCartney arrived.
Both phones also traveled to the area of a nearby grocery store, where surveillance video showed Troyer and a woman who matched the description of Jones in the store together.
Detectives retrieved messages between Jones and Pawul after the murder in which Jones asked where he was and whether he was hiding.  Her phone then traveled back to the location of the incident.
According to the Sheriff Department, the Frederickson-area house was frequented by heroin users and dealers and was targeted by the suspects for the cash and drugs there.
Deputies answered calls there 18 times in 2016 and 2017, officials said. The calls were about a variety of incidents, including a 3-year-old who reportedly had walked away from the house but was in the bathroom, a dispute between roommates, and homeless people occupying the residence.
On the night of Jan. 7, the robbery suspects were “looking to steal drugs or money,” said Sheriff Department spokesman Ed Troyer in the days after the incident. He added that the adults living at the “drug house” made it a target for crime, including the fatal shooting of the deputy.
Troyer isn’t related to Brenda Troyer, the defendant in that incident.
McCartney, 34, had been a Pierce County deputy since 2014. He was married, was the father of three children, and lived with his family in Yelm. He was part of the Sheriff Department's Mountain Detachment, which is based in Eatonville.
A memorial service for McCartney at Pacific Lutheran University on Jan. 17 drew more than a thousand mourners. A procession of 650 emergency vehicles in honor of McCartney from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to the university campus was part of the service.