Court Documents: Man suspected of murdering 58-year-old in Spokane Valley, motivated by money

A man who was stabbed to death in his Spokane Valley home in April was killed in a robbery, according to court documents.

A man arrested in early July on suspicion of murdering 58-year-old Anthony Plumb in April was charged with first degree murder and robbery during his indictment on Tuesday afternoon.

Newly filed court documents reveal how police believe Zane McDonald, 27, went to Plumb’s house, stabbed him twice in the neck, and stole several of Plumb’s belongings on the night of April 20.

Police arrested McDonald on July 1 while answering an independent phone call. It was placed in the Spokane County Jail on a $ 1 million bond.

According to court records, Plumb’s brother found his body on April 23 in a motor home that Plumb had stayed in on North Felts Road. Plumb was the homeowner for the tenant who lived there, and Plumb’s brother was the homeowner.

Spokane Valley police and fire services responded to calls for a suspicious death. The on-site medical staff found that Plumb had two cuts on his neck. This was later confirmed by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled Plumb’s death as a murder from two stab wounds to the neck.

Police found several items missing, including a side door key and one of Plumb’s two known cell phones. They collected several fingerprint and DNA samples.

Detectives spoke to Plumb’s family and friends, who said he was a private, security-conscious person who probably wouldn’t borrow his stuff. Family members told detectives that they believed Plumb was keeping about $ 10,000 in a floor safe at the time of his death. Detectives found the safe on the scene, but court records don’t tell if the money was in it. Plumb’s brother said he recently withdrew the money to buy a new RV.

Days later, an anonymous caller told police they saw a man they recognized who told people he had $ 10,000 in cash with him. The caller gave a description of the man along with the man’s nickname “Mouth Peace” and police determined that McDonald matched the details.

Because McDonald had previously been jailed, detectives were able to compare his fingerprints with those found on the scene. A forensic scientist said at least one of the prints matched McDonald’s, but couldn’t be certain whether they belonged to McDonald’s.

In mid-May, McDonald was arrested on unrelated charges and police asked about Plumb. McDonald told police he met Plumb about three months before Plumb’s death. He said he went to Plumb’s house around April 20, but he went around dusk and hadn’t stolen anything.

He denied knowing that Plumb was killed that same night, according to court documents.

Police received a search warrant for the McDonald’s car, where they found several keys. They also interviewed members of Plumb’s family who said they had logged into Plumb’s cell phone account and reported that on Jan.

Another family member told police they tried to withdraw money from Plumb’s bank account on April 23, three days after his death. They said a check was made on another man – not McDonald – for $ 500, but it ricocheted. A bank employee confirmed this withdrawal attempt by the police, according to the court files. The 27-year-old man was contacted by investigators but refused to interview the police, the court files say.

Police found that one of the keys they took from McDonald’s car opened the side door of Plumb’s house, the documents say. Another key found in McDonald’s car worked on Plumb’s car. Due to ongoing testing of the floor safe by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, detectives were unable to verify that a third key they found in McDonald’s car opened the safe.