Bilderback pleads not guilty in Stapert death cover-up
With his father passed out high on meth nearby, Donavin Stapert overdosed on meth, leading to a plan to stuff him in a safe and bury his body, according to court documents released Thursday.
Chastity Dawn Barkhuff, 38, of Malden, also known as Chastity Bilderback, and James L. Ramson, 30, of Spokane, stand accused of giving meth to Stapert, 17, and then, after he overdosed, burying his body.
While a positive identification has not been made yet, deputies from both Whitman and Spokane counties converged on a site in north Spokane County Wednesday where they found and retrieved a body, which is in the process of being identified by the Spokane Medical Examiner.
In court Thursday, Chastity Bilderback pled not guilty to charges that she participated in the cover-up of Stapert’s death.
According to court documents, Bilderback was doing meth with Stapert when he overdosed. Stapert’s father, Jason, was also in the Malden home but was passed out high on meth and not aware of what happened to his son.
Bilderback first appearanceBilderback and Ramson allegedly loaded Stapert’s body into a large safe, sealed it with caulking, then loaded the safe into an SUV and devised a plan to get rid of the body.
A witness, who has not been identified, later told police that Chastity, who is Bobby Bilderback’s live-in girlfriend, went to great effort to make sure Stapert’s DNA was not in Bilderback’s home. She cleaned walls and shampooed carpets afterward.
The third person involved in the death investigation is Bob Bilderback, who was arrested in Missoula earlier this week. Bilderback reportedly admitted to being heavily involved in the meth trade, running high volumes of drugs with an estimated $50,000 to $70,000 street value through Las Vegas and Montana.
The witness called Bilderback “diabolical”; adding that both Ramson and Chastity Bilderback followed his orders when it came to getting rid of Stapert’s body.
Ramson will make his first appearance in court Friday while Bob Bilderback is still awaiting extradition from Montana back to Whitman County.
