Police say couple were killed

BREMERTON - A man and woman found dead in a west Bremerton home were slaying victims, Bremerton police said yesterday.

The bodies of Clint G. Conn, 31, and Karen Lane, 32, were identified yesterday by the Kitsap County Medical Examiner's Office.

An autopsy determined Conn was shot once in the head, according to Don Ursery, chief deputy of the Kitsap County Medical Examiner's Office. The cause of Lane's death was not released yesterday afternoon.

Bremerton police are saying little about the deaths other than to acknowledge the victims were found in separate rooms by a friend at about 1:20 p.m. Monday. The friend went to check on them in their home in the 600 block of North Charleston Avenue after not seeing them for several days.

A neighbor, Barb Barron, who lives across the street from the blue, cottage-style house, said she knew something was wrong late Saturday afternoon when the couple's pit bull was left outside all day.

"Even when they go to the store they take the dog with them," Barron said. "At about 9 p.m. (Saturday) I noticed the bathroom light is on. Usually, when they leave, they lock up, turn off the lights and leave."

She last saw Conn working on one of the many cars in their yard, and Lane "fussing" with the flowers on the porch at about 10 a.m.

"I just started getting acquainted with them the last couple of months," she said yesterday. "She was a sweet gal. She was going to help my mother in the garden."

Barron said the friend who found the bodies told her he spoke to Lane at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday and said she was agitated and had to get off the telephone. When he came by at about 1 p.m., nobody was home and the doors were locked.

"I even checked the front and back doors a couple of times" that day, she said.

By Monday, with still no word, the friend came back, asked Barron if she'd seen them yet and decided to break down the door, then found Conn.

Barron called 911.

"We didn't even imagine they were in there," she said. "It's not something you think of."

Barron and others said they had seen a lot of people visiting the house.

"They'd have late-night parties, keep you awake," said Cynthia Morris, who lives across the street. Her husband, James, said he'd seen the police at the house on at least two occasions.

Information from Seattle Times staff reporters Lisa Diaz and Dave Birkland is included in this report.