Spanaway man shocked to learn his stolen pickup was used in Ravensdale homicide
RAVENSDALE, Wash. - A Spanaway man who reported his truck stolen this summer says he was shocked to learn that it was used to run over and kill someone in late September.
Investigators say it was stolen from Ryan Langston's neighborhood in Spanaway around June 17, then used to kill Nick Valison months later in Ravensdale.
Detectives say Valison was run over after he confronted Andrew Baim and others going through a stolen U-Haul. Detectives say Baim later burned the truck to destroy evidence.
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Ryan Langston says the now-destroyed older model Dodge Ram was more than just a truck, it was a family treasure passed down from his grandfather Neil.
"He purchased it when he retired, and him and my grandmother used it to travel around the United States in their retirement, and then he passed away, and she couldn’t drive it, so I inherited it," said Langston. "Yeah, it was my truck, it was family."
After reporting the theft, Langston put the incident out of his mind.
"I thought it would have been found locally here or not found at all, actually," said Langston.
He was shocked when FOX 13 News knocked on his door, the first to tell him that his truck was linked to the homicide.
"It’s horrible that somebody would do that," said Langston.
He says his grandparents would have been devastated at the news the family vehicle had been involved.
"They would have been heartbroken, heartbroken." said Langston.
Court documents state that the truck was found "fully engulfed in flames" in the middle of 336th Ave SE, just over five miles from where Nick Valison was killed.
Detectives say Valison was walking his dog when he saw Andrew Baim, Bart McMurray and Aalyssa Montano going through the contents of a stolen U-Haul truck on a wooded path near Valison's home.
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When he confronted them, investigators say Baim got behind the wheel of the stolen Dodge and ran over Valison, killing him. Baim is accused of dumping and burning the truck later that day.
"Just somebody being a Good Samaritan going out there and to check and this is the result. It’s horrible," said Langston.
Court documents state that Montano told investigators that the previously green truck looked like it had been "spray-painted black" and "It looked like Andrew (Baim) had painted it himself."
When Langston saw the picture of the burned truck, he noted the body style was a match.
"It’s gross, you know. I don’t understand how people operate that way," said Langston.
He says his heart goes out to the Valison family.
"I don’t know what they were doing out there, but for him, it was worth taking somebody’s life for, and it should have never come to that. It’s horrible, you don’t want to see anybody killed for that," said Langston.