Murder Suspect Had Fishy Alibi, Prosecutors Say -- 2 Face Extradition In Bothell Slaying

BOTHELL

Early in the game, prosecutors say, Marty Malone gave herself away.

When police detectives went to her Scottsdale, Ariz., home to tell her that her former husband had been killed in Bothell, she told them she had been in Las Vegas at the time.

They thought it odd that she never asked when Steven Ver Woert had died.

Prosecutors say Malone's murder-for-hire plot went awry when she tried to persuade a police detective from Bothell to kill the hit man.

Both Malone, 43, and Jonathan Curtis, 45, are being held in the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix without bail, pending extradition.

Charges filed by James Townsend, Snohomish County chief criminal deputy prosecutor, allege that Malone arranged to have her former husband killed for his $150,000 insurance policies and company pension, and that she waited in a nearby tavern while Curtis carried out the plan.

Townsend also alleges that in a conversation secretly recorded under a court-approved wiretap, Malone asked the police detective investigating the case if he would kill Curtis in exchange for $75,000.

Ver Woert's body was found in his trailer Feb. 5 after a fellow worker went to check on him after he failed to show up for work. The co-worker called police after he found blood on the trailer steps.

The Snohomish County medical examiner said Ver Woert died the night of Feb. 4. He had been stabbed several times and his throat had been cut. A manager at Sprint PCS in Redmond, he had lived alone in the trailer in the Lake Pleasant RV Park since last March.

Malone, who police say worked for a demolition company and was planning to start an investment company, was arrested Sunday night at her Scottsdale home. Curtis, a construction worker, was on his way to work early yesterday when police arrested him when he stopped for a latte in north Phoenix.

The arrests concluded a two-week investigation by Bothell Detective Ed Hopkins. According to Hopkins' statement, which accompanied the charges, here's how the investigation unfolded:

On his first trip to Phoenix on Feb. 6, Hopkins talked to several of Ver Woert's friends, including another former wife, Barbara. She described her ex-husband as a devoted father to their 11-year-old son and said he always paid child support on time and regularly visited.

When Malone offered her Las Vegas alibi to Hopkins and the Mesa detective on Feb. 8, they noted that she couldn't recall where she had stayed in that city.

Malone told the officers she had Ver Woert's will and asked how probate worked in Washington. She said she was the sole beneficiary of his estate, including two insurance policies totaling $150,000, with the exception of $3, of which $1 was to go to Ver Woert's son.

Ver Woert and Malone were divorced in June 1995 after being married for little over a year. They had no children together.

After Hopkins returned to Bothell, Malone called him three times in 10 minutes, mentioned the will and asked for a death certificate. She never asked for details about the slaying.

Hopkins went back to Phoenix last week with Bothell Detective Denise Langford. There they learned Malone had taken her 1996 Nissan Pathfinder to be serviced at a Scottsdale dealership Feb. 3 and that she had said she was taking a trip to Montana.

On Feb. 3, the odometer registered 10,115 miles. On Feb. 13, it read 13,226 miles - consistent with a trip to Washington.

Suspicious, Hopkins met with Malone several times for drinks and meals to establish a rapport with her. He noted she seemed to be behaving in a sexually suggestive manner. To maintain her confidence, he also told her he was unhappy working at the Bothell Police Department and was thinking about moving to the Phoenix area and getting a police job there.

On Feb. 22, Hopkins told Malone he was going to move to Arizona, and asked to borrow $5,000 from Malone for moving expenses.

The following day, Malone and Hopkins drove to a secluded area, their conversation in the car secretly recorded under a court-approved wiretap.

Hopkins told Malone he was no longer interested in investigating Ver Woert's death and asked her to give him some of the money from the life-insurance policy.

Malone then told Hopkins she planned her ex-husband's slaying and agreed to pay Curtis, a friend, $25,000 to carry it out. She said that they drove together to Bothell in her Pathfinder and that she waited in a tavern while Curtis went to Ver Woert's trailer.

Afterward, they drove to Ellensburg, where they discarded Curtis' bloody clothing at a fast-food outlet. During the tape-recorded conversation, Malone also offered Hopkins $50,000 to kill Curtis and said she also would give him the $25,000 she'd promised Curtis, the affidavit states.

Further investigation showed that Curtis had not been at work the day of the slaying or during the time it would have taken him to drive to and from Bothell, according to Hopkins' statement.

Extradition proceedings will begin now that charges have been filed in Snohomish County. Townsend said today that the two defendants could be returned to Bothell by this weekend if they waive extradition. But it could be two or three months, he said, if they choose to fight the extradition.

Malone could also face an additional charge in Phoenix because she allegedly asked a police officer to kill Curtis, Townsend said.

Information from Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau reporter Diane Brooks is included in this report.