Dawn Soles pleads guilty to Class B felony

WENATCHEE -- Dawn Soles of Leavenworth pled guilty Wed., Sept. 13 to "rendering criminal assistance" in the first degree, a Class B felony, in the 35-year-old case of the disappearance of Cashmere's Stephen Smith. Soles' plea was in front of visiting Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz, who made sure she understood she was waiving her rights to invoke the statute of limitations on the lesser charge.
Soles had been a codefendant along with Bernard Swaim of Sultan, in the murder of Smith, but Swaim was acquitted last week by a jury. She waived her rights to the lesser charge because there is no statute of limitations for first degree murder.
She had turned state's witness in the prosecution's effort to convict Swaim, but Soles' erratic testimony did more to get Swaim found not guilty than to convict him.
The 1982 case went cold for more than three decades until Smith and Soles' daughter, Crystal, requested another look into the case after hearing various street talk that Swaim had bragged about killing Smith and that the body would never be found.
Indeed, the body of Smith has never been found and the DNA evidence was inconclusive as to Swaim's innocence or guilt.
Swaim's defense attorney, Nick Yedinak, pointed to sloppy police work back then, which failed to do fingerprints at the alleged scene, lost vital evidence taken from the scene, had no eye witnesses and also failed to impound Smith's car found far from the residence.
Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney Doug Shae's witnesses also presented the seven women, five man jury with contradictory accounts and most often used the phrase, "I can't recall" when asked to recount events from 1982.
Soles was in the strange position of formerly being married to both the alleged killer, Swaim, and the victim, Smith.
Another of Soles' former spouses, Raymond O'Brien, Jr., may have sealed the acquittal for Swaim when he told the jury that nothing his former wife said could be believed, although Judge Lesley Allan told the jury to disregard that remark. The damage had been done, but O'Brien wasn't the only witness to call Soles a liar during the six day trial.
Soles was offered a five year sentence for her agreement to testify against Swaim, but the presiding judge will have the final say early next month.
Soles and her lawyer, Keith Howard, will return to Chelan County Superior Court Monday, Oct. 2 for sentencing.