Former Camas-Washougal Fire chief’s fiancee on stand in murder trial

The woman whose affections prosecutors say motivated a former Camas-Washougal Fire battalion chief to murder his wife took the stand Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court.

Cynthia Ward said she and Kevin West are now engaged and living together.

West, 51, is on trial for first-degree domestic violence murder and second-degree domestic violence murder in the Jan. 8, 2024, death of his wife, Marcelle “Marcy” West.

Ward currently lives in Estacada, Ore., with Kevin West and his son, Ted West, 22. She described a relationship that rekindled in secrecy months before Marcy West’s death and has since evolved into a domestic partnership in which all three contribute to household finances.

Ward testified that she first met Kevin West roughly 20 years ago, around 2004, when she was a volunteer firefighter in Washougal. Kevin West was married to Marcy West for roughly two years at that point. Ward admitted to a sexual relationship with Kevin West at that time, which she said lasted a few months before they lost touch.

She said the two reconnected in 2023 when Kevin West sent her a message on Facebook asking, “Hi, is this Cynthia from Washougal that I knew back in the day?”

They began communicating regularly via WhatsApp, which Ward said they chose for its security measures given that both were in relationships at the time. The digital correspondence soon turned physical, she said. Ward detailed illicit rendezvous at hotels “off Airport Way” to avoid the public eye, as well as trips to the beach and to Nevada to meet her mother.

Under questioning, Ward confirmed that Kevin West had expressed intentions to end his marriage at least once.

“Eventually, he was going to leave Marcy, at some point,” Ward said. “I don’t know when that would have been.”

They didn’t discuss the logistics in detail, she said, but their relationship was becoming serious. Ward said Kevin West introduced her to his mother and sister in Eugene, Ore., after Marcy’s death, although she was introduced only as “Cynthia” and not explicitly as a girlfriend.

Ward said she went to Kevin West’s home for the first time to celebrate his birthday shortly after his wife’s death. She said she was at the Wests’ house the day police arrived to interview him but remained out of sight.

Ward said she may have been at the house the morning of Marcy West’s death.

Despite the homicide investigation, Ward and Kevin West’s relationship accelerated in the months following his wife’s death. Ward said West proposed to her Sept. 1, 2024, less than eight months after his wife died.

A week ago, Ward joined her fiancé and his son in filing a civil defamation lawsuit against a former neighbor of the Wests’ regarding viral videos about the case.

Defense attorney Brian Walker, who represents Kevin West in the murder trial and in the civil lawsuit, cross-examined Ward briefly Tuesday. He focused on the couple’s future, eliciting testimony that West wanted to help Ward care for her unhealthy mother and that they were “working on building a life together.”

Kevin West, who is retired from his job as a battalion chief and living on his pension, denies the murder charges. His defense attorney argues that Marcy West suffered a medical emergency and first responders did not work fast enough to save her life.

The trial continues throughout the week.