Arraignments set in Fox murder

NEWPORT — Four Newport men implicated in the slaying of Jason Fox are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday and Friday in Pend Oreille Superior Court.

Kevin Kyle Belding, Riley James Hillestad, Claude Leroy Merritt and Matthew Joseph Raddatz-Freeman are charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in connection with the killing of Jason Fox northwest of Newport in September.

Belding, 24, and Raddatz-Freeman, 28, are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, while Hillestad, 26, and Merritt, 25, are set to be arraigned on Friday.

Pend Oreille County Sheriff Glenn Blakeslee announced the arrests of the four men on Nov. 9, a month after the body of Fox, 19, was discovered in a makeshift grave on an isolated portion of a property at 22 Yergens Road. A fifth man, Sean Damien Bellah, was also arrested on a charge of making false statements to law enforcement.

Fox was found in a 4-foot-deep grave with his hands tied behind his back on Oct. 4.

A cause of death has not been released and Pend Oreille County Coroner Dolly Hunt did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Fox's family members said they last heard from him on Sept. 15 and his vehicle was found abandoned near Libby, Mont., on Sept. 22, according to published news accounts.

He was last seen on Sept. 15 and his vehicle was found abandoned near Libby, Mont., on Sept. 22, according to published news accounts.

A motive for the killing has also not been disclosed, although Fox's family members suspect he was slain because he was bisexual.

Affidavits of probable cause obtained by Spokane TV station KREM allege that the five suspect linked to Fox's killing gave conflicting accounts of when they had last seen Fox.

Merritt initially told investigators that Raddatz-Freeman got into an argument with Fox and he intervened because he believed Fox was going to be assaulted. Merritt said he and Belding escorted Fox off the property and took different directions on Highway 20.

Those statements, however, were found to be false, KREM reported. Merritt said in a follow-up interview that Raddatz-Freeman attacked Fox in a garage at the Yergens property, which is reportedly the home of Hillestad, Merritt and Raddatz-Freeman.

Merritt told investigators that Hillestad took Fox outside and upon returning said that Fox had been killed, the affidavits said. Hillestad, meanwhile, alleged that Merritt struck Fox.

Raddatz-Freeman alleged that Hillestad and Merritt attacked Fox while he was seated in a chair and was later seen bound with his hands behind his back in the rear of a utility terrain vehicle driven by Merritt.

A woman who also lived in a home at the Yergens property told investigators that she saw Raddatz-Freeman unloading a skid steer and operated the loader for up to 30 minutes in the area where Fox's body was found, according to KREM.

Fox reportedly sent a text message to a woman living with one of his family members indicating he was at the Yergens property in case something happened to him. Fox also expressed unease with the presence of Hillestad at the property.

It's not clear why Fox went to the Yergens Road property and Blakeslee said no further information about the case is being released in order to protect the integrity of the investigation.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com or followed on Twitter @KeithDailyBee