Two held in Las Vegas in death of Tumwater man

OLYMPIA — A man and a woman have been arrested in Las Vegas for investigation into the death of a Tumwater man whose body was found in his pickup more than a week after he was slain.

Michael Sublett, 47, and his girlfriend April Frazier, 27, were arrested Tuesday night in a casino, apparently while gambling with money taken from Jerry Totten, 69, according to a U.S. Marshals Service news release.

Neither Sublett nor Frazier would talk with a Tumwater police detective who flew to Las Vegas on Wednesday, Tumwater Detective Jennifer Kolb said. They were being held in the Clark County, Nev., Detention Center pending extradition proceedings, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Totten's body was discovered Saturday in the covered flatbed of his pickup, which had been found in a ditch near Shelton and impounded on Jan. 30 — the day his relatives reported him missing. The body went unnoticed for 11 days because it was partially hidden by debris under the canopy, State Patrol Trooper Mark Lewis said.

Investigators believe Totten was killed at his home in Tumwater on or before the day the pickup was found.

Tumwater police have said he was not shot, but authorities have not disclosed how he died.

Frazier had been living in a trailer in Totten's yard for months, said LaVal Houskeeper, a relative of the dead man.

Totten's sister, Shirley Inman, said she drove from Oregon to check on the home because she had been unable to reach him and found Western Union records showing money was wired from his credit card to Sublett on Feb. 1 — at least two days after he had died.

Sublett and Frazier met Totten, a retired glass installer and boating enthusiast with an extensive collection of old cars and other junk in his yard, at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in the past couple of years, said Rodney Radasa, who knew all three from AA.

I was hanging out with him up until three weeks ago," Radasa said.

Frazier was convicted of assault after a fight with Sublett in December, and Sublett told police she was suffering through methamphetamine withdrawal, according to court records.