Three people arrested in connection with the killing of a 62-year-old man

A husband and wife and a woman are linked to the disappearance and killing of 62-year-old Robert Abbott, who was reported missing by his wife in early April, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

According to a press release from the sheriff's office, authorities arrested 51-year-old Richard L. Trower and his wife, 52-year-old Teri L. Trower, early Wednesday morning in the parking lot of the Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Airway Heights.

Richard Trower was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, burglary, grand theft auto, second-degree theft and trafficking in stolen goods. Teri Trower was arrested on suspicion of first-degree felony aiding and abetting and trafficking in stolen goods.

Later Wednesday morning, detectives arrested a third suspect, 43-year-old Heather L. Lewis, at a residence east of Cheney, the sheriff's office said. She was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, burglary, unauthorized auto theft and second-degree theft.

Abbott's remains have not been found, the press release said.

Starr Abbott, the wife of Robert Abbott, reported her husband missing on April 5 after she went to his residence (12325 S. Hatch Road) to check on his welfare, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday in Spokane County District Court.

She said she last saw her husband, who filed for divorce on April 1, on March 31. She did not stay at his house the night of April 1 because they were arguing, she said in the documents. A friend of her husband told her that calls to Robert Abbott's phone were going straight to voicemail, so the two agreed to meet at the house on Hatch Road to check on him.

Robert Abbott's call records show that his last outgoing call was on the morning of April 2.

When she arrived home, Starr Abbott found that his dogs had not been fed or let out, so she filed a missing persons report. She and a friend of her husband's broke into the locked workshop on his property and found a pool of blood on the floor of the workshop. She noticed that several of her husband's tools were missing from the workshop and that many car radio components were missing from his house.

Robert Abbott's 2018 BMW was also stolen, she told the sheriff's office.

According to the documents, investigators recovered two shell casings – one found outside the store and the other inside. They also found blood on the store floor, in a folder and on a couch cushion inside the store.

The sheriff's office seized the BMW as evidence on April 6 at the Takesa Village mobile home park in Mead. Investigators found enough blood in the trunk to suggest a body had been stored there, detectives wrote.

According to court documents, a Washington State Patrol forensic scientist identified Robert Abbott's DNA in the blood in the victim's BMW and business.

Officers stopped a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Richard Trower in Mead on April 6. Teri Trower was also a passenger in the car.

Richard Trower told a detective he was visiting his aunt in Takesa Village but knew nothing about the BMW or how it came to be parked there. He said he knew Robert Abbott and last saw him at his home in Hatch Road about eight months ago.

“The last time I saw him, he shot me,” Richard Trower said in the documents.

A woman reported April 2 that she saw a woman wiping down the interior and exterior of a BMW in a parking lot at the beginning of a cemetery trail on Government Way, documents show. The woman then walked away from the BMW and was picked up by the driver of another car.

The BMW's location data showed that the car drove from Hatch Road home to South Mullan Hill Road, back to Hatch Road, and then to the trailhead at noon on April 2. From there, it was then taken to the Northern Quest Casino that night. On April 4, it traveled to a remote location in Pend Oreille County.

The Kalispel Tribal Gaming Agency stated that Richard Trower parked a BMW matching the description of the victim's BMW at or near the Northern Quest RV Resort on the evening of April 2 and drove away with the car the next morning.

On April 2, detectives tracked Richard Trower's cell phone at or near the cemetery trailhead, then the casino, and Abbott's home.

Richard Trower told investigators in May that he and Lewis went to Abbott's house on April 1 to get his belongings, as he had previously lived on the property in an RV. He admitted that he and Lewis took the BMW from Abbott's property and stopped at the trailhead, where Lewis wiped down the door handles.

The next day, he drove the BMW back to Abbott's to return it, but no one was home. He also admitted to selling chainsaws that were in the BMW.

He told detectives he was looking for a place in Pend Oreille County where he could “hide” the BMW.

Richard Trower and Lewis exchanged messages on April 3, which revealed that Trower had returned to Abbott's residence and was worried that someone might come down the driveway while he was in the car. He texted her that he needed a place to unload and clean the car, the documents say. In one message, he also told her to be careful because of a gun in the back seat. Lewis texted him on April 4, asking Trower if he had gotten rid of the saws, and she needed photos of the items they were selling.

She wrote: “These are the only ones I'm 100 percent sure they'll sell and nothing would come back, you know.”

Detectives questioned Lewis in late April.

Lewis told them she had known Richard Trower for years and they went to Abbott's house because Trower had told her someone owed him money. She said Richard Trower persuaded her to steal the BMW from Abbott's house. She admitted to driving the car to a cemetery, where she stopped to wipe down the car “for my safety,” the documents say.

Phone conversations between Richard Trower and Starr Abbott's ex-husband in 2022 show that the two shared a mutual dislike for Robert Abbott and discussed plans to break into Abbott's store, court documents say.

Trower has been convicted of seven serious crimes, including burglary and possession of stolen property.

The police investigation is ongoing and further charges and arrests are possible, the press release states.

Anyone with information that may assist investigators or assist in the search for Robert Abbott's remains is asked to call Det. Nate Bohanek at (509) 477-3223 and reference case number 10046777.