Third Wife, Former Girlfriend Testify In Roth Murder Trial

Randy Roth's third wife and a woman who was close to becoming his fourth both testified he passionately courted them, quickly became indifferent and was preoccupied by money and life insurance.

Mary Jo Phillips of Arlington testified during the fifth day of Roth's first-degree murder trial in King County Superior Court that during their whirlwind romance in 1986 he would brush her hair, coordinate his clothes with hers and soon suggested she get fitted for a wedding ring.

He "became the man every woman dreams about," Phillips said yesterday.

But Roth's heated passion abruptly turned to ice after Phillips told him she had cancer and was uninsurable, she said. A short time later, after she had moved in with him and sold her furniture, the romance ended.

Roth, 37, of Woodinville, is accused of drowning Cynthia Roth, the woman who became his fourth wife, in Lake Sammamish last summer. But prosecutors have not touched on her death yet, instead spending the first week of the trial trying to establish a decade-long picture of Roth as a cold-blooded and financially motivated killer.

Both Cynthia Roth and his second wife, Janis, who died when she fell off a cliff in Skamania County in 1981, married him after brief and intense courtships. Both were married to him less than a year before dying in apparent accidents. And both women were well-insured.

Roth's third wife, Donna Clift, testified yesterday that she knew Roth for less than a month before she began receiving numerous flowers and cards as well as a gold chain, two leather jackets and even contact lenses.

"He was overwhelming me," said Clift, now 28, of their 1985 relationship. "When I asked him why he was doing all this he said he `wanted to make an investment in me.' "

Three months later they were married, but not before Randy showed her an insurance policy he wanted to take out on her that listed payouts for different types of deaths, she said. Clift did not apply for the insurance but agreed to change the beneficiary on her 3,000 insurance policy, from her child to Roth.

There has been no evidence introduced that another policy existed on Clift.

Shortly after they were married, Roth went rafting with his wife and her parents down the Skykomish River in Snohomish County. The other members of the party led the way while Roth piloted a two-person raft in which Clift was riding.

Clift testified that during one turbulent stretch she became convinced he was aiming the raft at rocks instead of a more obvious path of deep water. The raft punctured in two places and was slowly sinking when it reached a spot at which her parents had pulled over.

"I was screaming, `Help me, Dad, help,' " Clift said. "I was scared. Randy kept telling me to shut up."

Clift refused to ride further with him after the raft was repaired. The couple soon divorced.

Clift's stepmother, Judith Clift, testified that she had spoken with her daughter just before the trip began and was worried.

"I was afraid my daughter was not going to come out of the trip alive," she said.

Judith Clift's testimony prompted defense attorney John Muenster to ask Judge Frank Sullivan to declare a mistrial based on what he called a series of irrelevant and prejudicial testimonies about Roth's past.

"Mr. Roth is on trial for something that happened in 1991 yet he has been run through the wringer for things that allegedly happened as long as 10 years ago," Muenster said. "None of these people saw fit to report any of it until now."

Muenster and co-counsel George Cody strenuously argued before the trial to have Roth's past excluded. Sullivan ruled it was relevant in allowing prosecutors to present their case that Roth committed up to nine insurance or Social Security frauds since 1981.

Donna Clift and Phillips both said Roth gave differing accounts of Janis Roth's 1981 death.

Clift, who found Janis' ashes in a plastic box tucked away in the closet, said Roth told her his second wife slipped on pine needles and fell to her death on Beacon Rock after she slid from his grasp.

Phillips said he told her that Janis died in a climbing accident on Mount Rainier after his failed rescue attempt.

Testimony last week from Skamania County authorities indicated that Roth told them Janis Roth slipped while hiking and went cartwheeling over the side of a cliff before he could react.

Prosecutors today began to delve further into Roth's alleged 1988 staged burglary at his home.

Roth filed a $57,000 insurance claim which was disputed by Pioneer Insurance Co., which had suspicions about it, said Shelly Bierman, a claims adjuster for the company at the time. Later, a settlement was reached and Roth was paid $28,500.

Yesterday, a baby-sitter with whom he had a relationship testified that he told her he was planning the burglary so he could collect on an insurance policy. She said he even provided details on how he would do it, including ripping the carpet. She is the second witness to provide that detail.

-- Times East Bureau reporter Stephen Clutter contributed to this report.