Mom and her 12-year-old were mysteriously killed in 1997, feds say. Now, arrest made
A 29-year-old mother was found dead in the ruins of her mobile home in the summer of 1997, federal prosecutors said.
Someone killed Marlene Emerson, who lived in Colville, Washington, about a 340-mile drive northeast from Seattle, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington. Following an autopsy, her body was examined further and investigators noticed knife cuts on her neck, prosecutors said.
When firefighters located her remains on June 27, 1997, her 12-year-old daughter, Cassie, was nowhere to be found, according to prosecutors.
Authorities suspected Cassie had been kidnapped. Then the girl’s body was found in the woods about a month later in Colville, near Orin Rice Road, prosecutors said.
Similar to her mother, Cassie’s neck also had knife marks, according to prosecutors.
Now, new DNA evidence has linked 73-year-old Charles Lloyd Tatom to the killings, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Tatom, of Colville, was arrested on first-degree murder charges at his home the morning of Dec. 19, according to a news release from the U.S. Marshals Service. The charges were filed in Stevens County Superior Court, prosecutors said.
Information regarding Tatom’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
“Although extensive investigative efforts were made at the time of the homicides, including evidence collection and witness interviews, the case went unsolved for decades,” the U.S. Marshals Service said.
The investigation, which involved state and federal authorities, revealed Emerson had ties with people who belonged to an “outlaw motorcycle club community” around Colville, as reported by individuals who knew her, according to prosecutors.
Witnesses told investigators that, in the weeks before she was killed, Emerson was getting threats related to her “association” with the people in the motorcycle community, court documents say.
Tatom was in that community, according to court documents.
The investigation
The day Emerson was killed, her neighbors in her mobile home park heard a “boom just before 4:00 am, followed by the sound of a loud vehicle leaving the area,” prosecutors said.
Then, a fire engulfed Emerson’s mobile home, according to prosecutors. The fire caused the roof to collapse. Emerson’s remains were found after the fire was put out.
One of the witnesses interviewed by investigators had accused Tatom of hiding a bloody knife “near the home of a former leader in the outlaw motorcycle club community,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The witness then reported Tatom retrieved the knife at some point and had explained the blood belonged to an animal he gutted, according to prosecutors.
This was one of a few reports witnesses made about Tatom in connection with Emerson’s death and the fire at her home, prosecutors said.
Ultimately, “new forensic evidence testing led to Tatom’s identification as involved in the long-unsolved murders,” the U.S. Marshals Service said.
DNA samples connect suspect
An SUV Tatom had driven during the summer of 1997 was found to have a blood stain on the rear passenger window, which has since been identified as Cassie’s blood, according to prosecutors.
Other DNA samples from the car were connected with Cassie and Tatom, prosecutors said.
Tatom’s potential motives for allegedly killing Emerson and her daughter haven’t been released, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
“I am grateful for the law enforcement agents and officers, who have dedicated more than two decades of their careers to identifying those responsible for Marlene and Cassie’s murders,” Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney Erika George said in a statement.
This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Mom and her 12-year-old were mysteriously killed in 1997, feds say. Now, arrest made."
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