Rural Alaska blog: The Village : (UPDATED) Seattle Times: Bethel connection to accused cop shooter

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The Village is a Daily News blog about life and politics in rural Alaska. Its main author is ADN reporter Kyle Hopkins. Come here for breaking news on village issues, plus interviews, videos and photos. But that's just part of the story. We want to feature your pictures, videos and stories, too. Think of The Village as your bulletin board. E-mail us anything you’d like to share with the rest of Alaska -- your letters to the editor, the photos of your latest hunt or video of your latest potlatch. (We love video.)

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Kyle Hopkins

I was born in Sitka, have lived in Kake, Skagway and Fairbanks and joined the ADN in 2005 after writing for the Anchorage Press and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. I started blogging for the paper in 2006 with The Trail, our blog about the governor's race. Then came the Alaska Politics blog. Now I'm covering government and rural affairs and live in Anchorage with my wife, Rebecca. (Update: Our daughter Alice was born May 31. Thanks everyone for the suggestions.) E-mail me at khopkins@adn.com and find me on Twitter at twitter.com/ADNVillage.

khopkins@adn.com

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(UPDATED) Seattle Times: Bethel connection to accused cop shooter

Posted by thevillage

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: November 8, 2009 - 3:31 pm

Police gather near the site in where a suspect in the killing of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot by detectives in Seattle on Friday. (AP Photo/Seattlepi.com, Joshua Trujillo)

The mother of a man accused of shooting and killing a Seattle police officer is a Bethel business owner, according to Seattle news reports and Alaska public records.

Christopher John Monfort, 41, is accused of killing one officer and wounding another Halloween night in Seattle. Police shot him on Friday while investigating a tip near his Tukwila apartment. They report finding bomb-making materials in his home, believe he’s responsible for firebombing police vehicles on Oct. 22 and have labeled Monfort a “domestic terrorist.”

What’s this have to do with Alaska? The Times reports that Monfort’s mother, Suzan Monfort, operates a Curves fitness center in Bethel.

UPDATE: Just talked to Christopher Monfort's former teacher, Kathy Hanson, who says he briefly lived in Bethel as a young teenager. “He was a pleasant enough guy."

“I know Chris very well and this just doesn’t sound like him,” Vicki Malone, the mother's Bethel business partner and a family friend told the paper.

Malone said she was mystified that Christopher Monfort is a suspect in the shooting. "I don't get this. People that run around and kill cops have tons and tons of other stuff in their record, and Chris had no gang stuff, I know that."

Suzan Monfort lists a Bethel address on her voter registration and appears to have lived in Bethel as far back as at least 1996, according to Permanent Fund Dividend records.

The Times reports that Christopher Monfort lived in the state at one time as well. But I've been checking the public records databases we use this morning, and don't immediately see him connected to any Alaska addresses.

If you know Monfort, let me know.

His mother was in Seattle yesterday and referring questions about the case to Seattle defense attorney John Henry Browne, according to KING 5, a local television station.

Alaskans know Browne best for defending former Valley Rep. Vic Kohring in Kohring’s corruption case.

When I called a Bethel number listed for Malone today, a man who answered the phone referred all questions to Browne. He said Malone wasn’t in town.

Christopher Monfort is in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center today, according to the Times.