On Friday, May 29^th Snohomish County Public Works Department bureaucrat H. F. “Sonny” Gohrman and a co-worker were doing what he has a reputation for doing and that is calling on property owners on the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River up near Verlot in North County. Snohomish County Noxious Weed Control agent Sonny Gohrman and his co-worker were trying to obtain permission from property owners along the river to spray for the invasive Japanese Knotweed. Neighbors in the area say that Gohrman has a reputation for being confrontational and routinely threatens property owners with warrants, fines and other big government rhetoric if they don’t relent.

On this day Gohrman got into an argument with the wrong property owner, Boeing crane operator Daniel L. Wasilchen. Wasilchen was in no mood to deal with Gohrman’s officious demeanor and ordered him off the property. At that point this confrontation escalated into a full scale shouting match. When Wasilchen threatened to get his gun unless Gohrman and his co-worker from the county left the property, Gohrman drove off to Granite Falls to find a cell phone reception area to call Snohomish County Sheriff Deputies.

The story from this point on gets a little muddled, but it is being reported all over the internet that Gohrman and his fellow ‘weed person’ drove back to Dan Wasilchen’s home, drove into the driveway and pointed out the house to the deputies who parked out on the road. Another confrontation developed and as a result Dan Wasilchen was shot dead (check out the reader comments on this link!) by deputies over essentially a property rights confrontation.

The first published stories (above) were sketchy to say the least, but this story has NOW developed into a MAJOR SCANDAL as folks in North County are blaming the Snohomish County Public Works Department for this shooting. Here are the highlights of what is being said:

1.      Why didn’t Sonny Gohrman just go away, let the situation cool off and come back with a court order in a few days?

2.      Why did Gohrman drive back the same afternoon and then drive into Dan Wasilchen’s driveway?

3.      Many are saying they believe there is another set of victims in this episode and they are the Sheriff Deputies who were drawn into this fight between Sonny and Daniel and had to shoot Wasilchen when he apparently refused to put down his hand gun. (Wasilchen has a 3^rd Degree Assault conviction from some years ago because of a shoving match with police officers!)

4.      Neighbors are disputing that Wasilchen was a nut case who was always waving his gun around. Dan is described by them as one of the best neighbors anyone could have and he never threatened anyone until this incident.

5.      What did Gohrman tell the Sheriff’s Department to get them to send out a couple of deputies?  Why is John Lovick’s Sheriff’s office refusing to show up to investigate property crimes all over the county, when THEY decide the damage is $1,500 or less? In one case in an area between Snohomish and Everett expensive farm equipment to include one excavator was shot full of holes with high caliber rifle fire and the Sheriff refused to respond to the call from the property owners.

One attorney I talked to, after having read the initial stories in the Newspapers, said, “There will probably be a MAJOR lawsuit for wrongful death filed over this incident. Bob I agree with you that this whole situation doesn’t smell right!”

BIG BROTHER AND PROPERTY RIGHTS:

Writer’s note: Over the last 6 months I have been hearing stories of more and more government bureaucrats going around and causing problems for property owners in Snohomish County AND Western Washington. They include the State Department of Ecology, The State Fish and Game, Federal Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, Snohomish County Public Works enforcement officers, Department of Natural Resources armed officers and others all showing up UNANNOUNCED and harassing property owners.

There is absolutely no doubt that Snohomish County Public Works showed EXTREMELY BAD JUDGMENT in this deadly incident. I hope there is nothing to the charges some are making that Dan Wasilchen was set up by them intentionally or otherwise.

There is now a major investigation underway and I will keep you informed about developments!