MAPLE VALLEY, Wash — Two men charged in connection to the killing of a man and woman in Maple Valley pleaded not guilty to all charges Wednesday.
Brandon Gerner, 41, and Joshua Jones, 34, were arrested earlier this month in connection to the killings of Robert Leroy Frederick Riley, 57, and Ashley Nicole Williams, 34. The two victims were found in the bushes on Nov. 16, 2023, under trash and debris near Southeast 252nd Street and 238th Avenue Southeast in Maple Valley.
Gerner is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder as well as first-degree animal cruelty and unlawful possession of a firearm in a related case. Jones is charged with two counts of first-degree felony rendering criminal assistance as prosecutors allege Jones helped Gerner hide the bodies.
During Wednesday's hearing, King County Superior Court judge Johanna Bender reduced Jones' bail to $20,000 from $1 million. Bender agreed with Jones' attorney that $1 million was "excessive" for the charges in this case. Jones was ordered to electronic home monitoring with GPS if he posts bail.
Angela Williams, Ashley's sister, spoke during the hearing urging the judge not to reduce bail.
"What happened to my sister was awful," Angela Williams said. "Nobody is safe if he is out."
Gerner remains on a no-bail hold.
King County Sheriff's detectives used Google location data to place Jones and a third man, Kody Olsen, at the scene of the crime, on the night of Nov. 15 and early morning hours of Nov. 16.
After he was arrested, Gerner told detectives Olsen shot Riley after he confronted them for being on property near where the victim lived. While Olsen and Gerner were looking for security cameras around the property, they encountered Williams in Riley's trailer.
Jones told police Gerner admitted to stabbing Williams numerous times before the knife broke and Olsen shot her, court documents say. Gerner denied stabbing Williams in his interview with detectives and said Olsen was responsible for both killings, but police spoke to someone who was close to Olsen and told police a similar version that Gerner stabbed Williams.
Olsen died Dec. 16, about a month after the killings when Pierce County deputies shot him after he allegedly wounded two Pierce County deputies during a DUI traffic stop and subsequent pursuit four days prior.
Court documents also connect Gerner to the shooting and killing of a beloved horse in Pierce County. "LeMon" was shot around 12:30 a.m. on Vickery Road on Dec. 17, 2023. The night before, there was a vigil for Olsen. An unidentified witness and Jones told detectives that Gerner said he shot the horse "as a sacrifice for Olsen" after his death. Court documents state the horse was not killed instantly and walked around bleeding in the water trough and inside the horse run before dying.
Gerner denied killing the horse when interviewed by law enforcement.
When asked what he would tell the victims' families, Gerner got angry about Riley but did say he was "sorry" Williams had been killed and that she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."