Man arrested in pot shop kidnapping gives murder confession to Spokane TV station

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A man arrested in the kidnapping of a Cheney marijuana store employee has given a jailhouse confession to a Spokane television station.

Donovan Culps told KHQ-TV Monday that he shot Cameron Smith several times after Smith declined to sell him pot products because he didn't have identification.

The 36-year-old Culps told the station he was having a bad day and that Smith "got the ugly side of it."

"I did not think about it, I just pulled out the gun and shot him," Culps said.

"I dumped the body, I dumped the car, then I went home."



Culps is in a Spokane jail on accusations of kidnapping and robbery. He has not been charged for killing Smith.

Culps' niece, 18-year-old Violetta Culps, remains at large.

Authorities say the 46-year-old Smith was abducted from the parking lot of Lucid Marijuana on Sept. 10 as he was eating lunch in his car.

Culps was arrested in Goldendale on Thursday.

The Spokesman-Review reports that Spokane County Rescue found Smith’s body Friday afternoon off state Route 904 near Four Lakes. Police say his body was concealed in “heavy cover” several feet from the road.