Man charged with murder of 40-year-old woman on North Hamilton Street

A 41-year-old man has been charged in the death of a 40-year-old woman last month on North Hamilton Street in Spokane.

Travis R. Johnson is in the Kootenai County Jail facing other charges, according to a news release from Spokane police. Spokane detectives are working with the Spokane County District Attorney's Office to extradite Johnson to Spokane County to face murder charges.

The Spokane County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Jackie Wessels, who was shot multiple times.

Spokane police said officers were called to a home in the 2500 block of North Hamilton Street around 7:30 a.m. on July 21 after gunshots were heard. Officers found Wessels and spoke with witnesses.

One of the callers to police said he was the victim's son and found her dead in the master bedroom, court documents say. He said he asked a man doing woodwork outside on the back porch what happened. The man said he didn't know but he would leave before police arrived because there were warrants for his arrest, court documents say.

Neighbors told police they saw a dark SUV pull up in the alley next to the house and two men get out and enter the house. Both men left the house in a hurry with a computer monitor and a black bag and drove away, documents say.

A tenant of the house said he saw two men in the living room that day with a gun on the table. The tenant went to the gas station, picked up a person, came back to the house and began using methamphetamine with that person. Then they heard loud bangs coming from downstairs, according to court documents.

According to the Kootenai County Jail roster, Coeur d'Alene police arrested Johnson on July 29 on suspicion of several drug offenses.