Police say deadly heist was planned, just not well

TACOMA — The four people charged in connection with the fatal robbery at a Wal-Mart, including two men who could face the death penalty, had planned the heist in advance, but not very well, prosecutors said Thursday.

"In one sense, this was a very sophisticated robbery. In another sense, it was amateur city," said Mark Lindquist, chief criminal deputy for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

On Thursday, prosecutors filed murder charges against the four people in connection with Tuesday's fatal shooting of Loomis armored-car guard Kurt Husted at a Wal-Mart in Lakewood, south of Tacoma.

Lindquist said police were able to round up the four suspects quickly — all were in custody within about 24 hours of the robbery — because law-enforcement officers received a "flood of tips" and because the defendants made critical mistakes.

He listed a few of them at a news conference after the defendants' first court appearance:

The two men who ran into the store, shot Husted at point-blank range and grabbed the money did nothing to cover their faces and were caught clearly on video surveillance. One of the defendants worked at the store, and her boyfriend was the getaway driver.

In addition, said Lindquist, "They had no exit strategy other than to get out of the Wal-Mart parking lot."

Calvin Finley, 35, a felon with a history of assault and domestic violence who is alleged to have fired the fatal gunshot, was charged with aggravated first-degree murder, first-degree murder, robbery, assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Marshawn Alex Turpin, 20, was charged with aggravated first-degree murder, first-degree murder, robbery and assault.

Aggravated first-degree murder is punishable by life in prison without parole or by death. Prosecutors have 30 days to determine whether they will seek the death penalty against one or both men, Lindquist said.

Finley and Turpin are being held in Pierce County Jail on $5 million bail each.

Prosecutors also charged Tonie Marie Williams-Irby, 42, and her boyfriend, Odies Delandus Walker, 41, of University Place, with first-degree murder and robbery. They are each being held on $2 million bail.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.

According to court documents, Williams-Irby and Walker began planning the robbery about a month ago.

As a floor manager at the Lakewood Wal-Mart, Williams-Irby had been briefed about the store's income at company meetings, court documents say.

She told Walker and Finley, a friend of the couple, that "hundreds of thousands of dollars" could be plucked from the armored car, court documents allege.

The three then began to look for another accomplice to be the "triggerman" in the scheme, police and prosecutors said.

A man who turned down their recruiting efforts told police after the shooting that he had seen three guns and the stolen getaway car at the home of Williams-Irby and Walker.

Three days before the shooting, prosecutors said, Williams-Irby and Walker started making several practice runs at the Wal-Mart, where they timed the movements of the armored car and the guard carrying the money bags.

The three also recruited Turpin, prosecutors allege.

On Tuesday, police and prosecutors said, Williams-Irby was working at the store when Finley and Turpin were dropped off at the front door by Walker. They walked into the store around 1:30 p.m. and waited for the armored-car guard, court documents allege.

Less than a minute later, the guard, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, turned toward the exit and Finley "calmly" pulled out a handgun, raised it, pointed it directly at the guard's head and fired, prosecutors said.

Finley then turned and walked out the door while Turpin, who was also armed, grabbed one or possibly two money bags, prosecutors said.

The stolen white Buick getaway car was already moving when Finley and Turpin jumped in, court documents allege.

Prosecutors said police have recovered about $40,000 of the $60,000 in cash that was estimated to be in the money bags. There was an additional $140,000 in checks that have not yet been recovered, Lindquist said.

After the robbery, Finley went to a hotel in Fife, Turpin went to his girlfriend's house and Williams-Irby and Walker enjoyed a $175 dinner at Red Lobster, according to court documents.

A former girlfriend of Finley's broke down in tears during Thursday's arraignment but said it wasn't because she felt sorry for the father of her child.

"I knew he would kill someone someday," she said, "but I thought it would be me."

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com