When Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod ran for office last year, one of his campaign promises was to take a new look into the mysterious 1998 death of Ronda Reynolds.

Reynolds, a former state trooper, was married to Ron Reynolds, who was and continues to be the principal of Toledo Elementary School. Ronda Reynolds, 33 years old at the time of her death, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in the couples Toledo home. She was shot in a bedroom closet. Ron Reynolds claims he was in the bedroom, but never heard the shot. A botched investigation didnt help matters.

Ronda Reynolds mother Barbara Thompson didnt accept the initial ruling of suicide. Many unanswered questions in the case remain.

When Coroner McLeod took office, he switched the classification of Ronda Reynolds death from suicide to undetermined.

Now the matter is going to go much farther. McLeod is instigating a coroners inquest. The inquest will take place in the Law and Justice Center in Chehalis, and will be presided over by Coroner McLeod.

At a coroners inquest, a jury of five will listen to witness testimony as called forth by McLeod. The inquest will take place in October, and will aim to answer four questions: Who died, where did the person die, what is the cause of death, and finally and paramount, what is the manner of death?

If a majority of the jury rules the death a homicide, they could go so far as to identify and name a suspect during the inquest.

The Ronda Reynolds case has been a high profile one since the night of Dec. 16, 1998. The story of Ronda Reynolds death was highlighted last year when best-selling true crime author Ann Rule published In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds and Her Mothers Unceasing Quest for the Truth. The book certainly had a slant in favor of Ronda Reynolds being murdered.

It also unearthed an interesting theory in the final chapters as to what happened that fateful night in the Reynolds home. A booksigning by Rule, along with Barbara Thompson, packed the Corbet Theatre auditorium.

McLeod is asking anyone with knowledge of the night in question to write or email his counsel, David Fine of the Lewis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office (j.david.fine@lewiscountywa.gov, Lewis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office, 345 West Main Street, Chehalis, WA 98532). McLeod needs any new information by July 22.

This matter needs closure. The coroners inquest could deliver such relief. We support McLeods moves to first reclassify the manner of death to undetermined, and now to push on with his coroners inquest.