Gregg Olsen - A Twisted Faith: A Ministers Obsession and the Murder That Destroyed a Church

A
Twised
Faith

Also by Gregg Olsen

NONFICTION
The Deep Dark
Starvation Heights
Cruel Deception
If Loving You Is Wrong
Abandoned Prayers
Bitter Almonds
The Confessions of an American

Black Widow

FICTION
Victim Six
Heart of Ice
A Cold Dark Place
A Wicked Snow

A
Twised
Faith

A MINISTERS
OBSESSION AND
THE MURDER
THAT DESTROYED
A CHURCH

Gregg Olsen

S t . M ARTINS P RESS N EW Y ORK

A TWISTED FAITH . Copyright 2010 by Gregg Olsen. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

All photos used by permission.

Cover design by Ervin Serrano

Cover photograph Luis Hernandez/500px/Getty

www.stmartins.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Olsen, Gregg.

A twisted faith: a ministers obsession and the murder that destroyed a church / Gregg Olsen.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-36061-0

1. Hacheney, Dawn, d. 1997. 2. Hacheney, Nicholas. 3. MurderWashington (State)Bainbridge IslandCase studies. 4. Sexual misconduct by clergyWashington (State)Bainbridge IslandCase studies. I. Title.

HV6534.B26O47 2010

364.152'3092dc22

2009040244

First Edition: April 2010

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Dawn

Annette Anderson Christ Community Church member; married to Craig; mother of four and confidante of Sandy Glass

Craig Anderson Salesman; married to Annette

Yvonne Basso An Oregon pastors wife; friend of Annette Anderson

Robert Bily Apostle; married to Pamela; father of three, including son Adam

Julie Conner Married to Christ Community Church board member Gary; mother of seven

Julia DeLashmutt Christ Community Church secretary

Michael DeLashmutt Student

Jimmy Glass Carpenter; married to Sandy Glass; son of church members James and Mary Glass

Sandy Glass Prophetess of Christ Community Church; married to Jimmy; mother of four boys

Dan Hacheney Auto mechanic; Nicks father; married to Sandra Hacheney

Dawn Hacheney Credit union employee; married to Nick; daughter of Don and Diana Tienhaara

Nick Hacheney Youth pastor, Christ Community Church; married to Dawn Hacheney

Holly Kloven Married to contractor Einar; mother of three; close friend of Sandy Glass

Sally LaGrandeur Married to Rich; mother of Sara and Ed Matheson

Nicole Matheson Housecleaner; estranged from husband, Ed; mother of two

Richard Maxwell Christian counselor with Alpha Counseling in Poulsbo, Washington

Ron McClung Christ Community Church pastor; married to Carol; father of Jon

Scott Nickell Navy officer; confidant of Sandy Glass

Bob PB Smith Longtime pastor of Christ Community Church; married to Adele; father of Lindsey and Kim

Lindsey Smith Daughter of PB and Adele Smith; sister to Kim Smith Selembo; along with Sara LaGrandeur, one of Nicks little disciples

Diana Tienhaara Dawn Hacheneys mother; married to naval shipyard worker Donald

A
Twised
Faith

December 26, 1997
Bremerton, Washington

I T WAS THE DAY AFTER C HRISTMAS 1997 IN B REMERTON, A NAVY town across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington. Contractor Jeff Richardson, age thirty-four, pulled into an East Bremerton neighborhood to pick up his employee Tim Pitts, thirty-three, for work. The split second Jeff planted his foot on Jensen Avenue, he turned with a start toward the sound of a jagged crackle and the whooshing of air. It was coming from a small brown vertical-sided house across the street. A fire had sucked in a window, and black smoke poured from the splintered gash.

A neighbors house was on fire.

Jeff hurried to the Pitts door, where he machine-gun knocked and called out about the emergency. It was 7:13 A.M ., and Amy Pitts, startled from bleary-eyed to wide awake, went straight for the telephone. Her call to 911 was one of several that came in around the same time.

The burning 1942-built rambler belonged to Nick and Dawn Hacheney. The Pitts knew the Hacheneys only in passing, based on occasional conversations on the street. Nick was a youth pastor for a church on nearby Bainbridge Island, and Dawn a loan officer at the Kitsap Federal Credit Union in Silverdale. He seemed outgoing, the kind of fellow with a quick word and a smile; she was nice but a bit more reservednot cool, just the type of person who waited for others to approach her, not the other way around. Nick liked to hunt and had set up a tented structure in the backyard that some assumed he was testing as a prototype for a hunting shelter hed erect elsewhere. The Hacheneys had a couple of Labs, yellow and chocolate, named Hope and Faith. None of the neighbors had been inside the house, but there was evidencesounds of hammering and construction supplies being brought inthat the place was in the midst of a much-needed remodeling. That was about the sum of what they knew.

Having rousted the Pitts, Jeff Richardson immediately sprinted up the steep concrete steps to the Hacheneys door and pounded it until his fist stung. Tim Pitts, who had joined his boss, called out to see if anyone was inside.

Hey! Youre on fire!

A voice came from the other side of a shaggy hedge. Theyre not home!

This report from the unseen neighbor gave Tim and Jeff a momentary flash of relief, but in the chaotic first moments of emergencies, relief is almost always short-lived. Tim had noticed Dawns blue Dodge Neon parked in front. It appeared someone could be home.

Jeff kicked the door; the frame splintered and the door swung open. Tim was right behind him, coughing from the smoke yet feeling the rush that propels a man toward danger. Crouching, Jeff tried to make his way deeper inside the house, but the force of the smoke and heat that blasted his face made him wince. He retreated, then tried again. Amy, now at the Hacheneys door, proffered a pair of water-soaked bath towels, and Jeff held one to his face as he started to crawl farther into the burning house. He could barely see through the heavy, dark smoke. He bumped into furniture, pushing chairs aside, forcing his way down the hallway toward the master bedroom.

On his next attempt, the would-be rescuer saw the red blush of burning embers and the yellow buzz saw of flames lapping at the woodwork around the doorway. Its too hot. Too dangerous. Although hed done what lesser men might not have, given the perilous conditions, the young contractor knew that he could not save anyone trapped inside. He backed out. As swiftly as he could, Tim retrieved a garden hose, thinking that he could slow the blaze somewhat until the fire department arrived. But no water came through the hose. Another window burst.