Dawn Soles sentenced to probation, time served

WENATCHEE - Dawn Soles was sentenced to five years probation and time served, plus three more weeks in jail during a sentencing hearing in Chelan Superior Court Thursday, Oct. 5. Her sentence was handed down for whatever part she may have played in the disappearance of Cashmere resident Stephen Smith in 1982. That means she will be out of jail Nov. 1.
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 cold case of the disappearance and supposed murder of Cashmere's Stephen Smith.
Smith's body has never been found, but a tooth belonging to him was found at the alleged murder scene in his house in Cashmere.
It is still uncertain if the alleged murder was due to a drug debt, a child custody battle, romantic jealousy or some other motive.
A variety of witnesses delivered several different theories as well as hazy or non-existant memories regarding the original timeline of the Smith disappearance.
The police work at the time, for whatever reason, did not include fingerprints or the impounding of Smith's vehicle once found. Several key items of evidence also disappeared from the Chelan County Sheriff's Office sometime between 1982 and 2017, when Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney Doug Shae decided there was enough evidence to bring first-degree murder charges against Bernard Swaim.
Swaim of Sultan was acquitted of Smith's murder in an early September trial where Soles was supposed to be the prosecution's star witness, but her contradictory testimony caused more doubt than proof of guilt in the minds of the nine-women, five-man jury.
Soles was originally a co-defendant in Smith's alleged death, but was promised a reduced charge for her cooperation in an attempt to convict Swaim.