DEER PARK, Wash. – A Deer Park woman faces murder charges after a group of good Samaritans she had asked to help her move some items discovered a male body covered in tarps on her driveway.
Gloria Redmann, 60, faces a second degree murder charge, in addition to charges of making false statements, unlawful disposal of remains and failure to notify medical examiner/coroner.
The body of Michael Ahlstrom, 54, was found in Deer Park on Wednesday afternoon. Redmann was his apparently ex-girlfriend, according to court documents.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office said he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Investigators spoke with Ahlstrom's ex-wife on Nov. 27, when she reported him missing. She said no one had heard from him since Nov. 22 and he was currently living with Redmann. At the time, deputies spoke with Redmann who said that Ahlstrom had left the house on Nov. 23 to go to Sandpoint to look for a job.
"Redmann did not seem concerned," wrote investigators in court documents.
Deputies found the body found underneath a tarp located near Meadowmere Road and Meadowmere Way on Wednesday. Court documents show it was likely there for some time.
A release from SCSO said Redmann told them Ahlstrom arrived at her house three days before and she did not let him inside.
She told police when she looked outside later, he was lying on her driveway, dead.
She said she tried to move the body because she wanted to park her vehicle under the awning of the driveway, but couldn't do it herself. Redmann also told detectives she rented a large engine hoist to lift the body out of the driveway, but could not get it to work, according to court documents.
She told officials she went to a nearby bar at a bowling alley and asked patrons for help "moving items” from her house.
The group that arrived to help, SCSO said, discovered the victim. Court documents show one of the men who had gone to Redmann’s house told police he looked under part of the tarp and saw a pair of shoes sticking out.
He told deputies he lifted up the other end and saw what he believed to be hair. He told his coworkers they were leaving and went back to the bar to call police.
Someone who helped Redmann told me they were just trying to be good Samaritans & help her move stuff.
— Lindsay Nadrich (@KREMLindsay) December 2, 2016
Said they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They don't want to be involved.
— Lindsay Nadrich (@KREMLindsay) December 2, 2016
Detectives also interviewed Redmann’s mother, who lives in the house and is apparently bedridden. She told detectives her daughter is a retired United States Army officer.
She said she did not get Thanksgiving dinner because Gloria and Michael had a fight and were apparently broken up. Detectives found Redmann owned several guns and kept them loaded in her bedroom, according to court documents.
Redmann is listed as an inmate at the Spokane County Jail. A judge set her bond at $100,000,000.
Janine Lawrence, who identified herself as the niece of Ahlstrom, reached out to KREM 2 online.
“He was a hard -working family man, that loved his children, and kind of man who would help anyone in need,” she said.
This is an ongoing investigation.
This story has been updated.