Firefighter accused of murdering wife

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A photo from a 2012 public newsletter released by the city of Camas.

WASHOUGAL, Wash. - A Camas-Washougal Fire Department captain has been booked into jail for allegedly murdering his wife.

Just before 5 a.m. on Jan. 8, the Camas-Washougal Fire Department and Washougal Police Department responded to a call about a woman in "medical distress" at a home on 34th Street in Washougal.

The caller, 49-year-old Kevin West, said his wife, 48-year-old Marcy West, was having a seizure and that she had stopped breathing, so he was trying CPR on her.

Medics arrived and tried to save Marcy but she did not survive.

However, after a subsequent autopsy, officials were made aware that her death was not a medical or natural issue.

On March 20, the medical examiner determined that she died of asphyxia with blunt trauma to the neck. Her manner of death was determined to be a homicide.

In the days after her death, several people close to the victim contacted law enforcement with concerns about potential issues in the relationship. They, too, worried her death was not of natural causes.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office took over the investigation on Jan. 11. Kevin West is employed by the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, who responded to the scene, and Washougal PD handed off the case to deputies to avoid a conflict of interest.

Through their investigation, detectives learned that the couple were the only ones home at the time of Marcy's death. It was also discovered that the pair were having marital and financial problems, matching up with statements from Marcy's loved ones.

It also appeared that Kevin gave detectives contradictory statements, according to the Clark County Sheriff's Office.

Kevin West was arrested on March 22 and booked into Clark County Jail for first-degree murder.

The investigation is still active and ongoing.