Former Camas-Washougal fire official West gets 25 years in wife’s murder

A judge sentenced former Camas-Washougal Fire Battalion Chief Kevin West to 25 years in prison Friday for the January 2024 murder of West’s wife. In January, a Clark County Superior Court jury convicted West, 52, of first- and second-degree murder for strangling Marcelle “Marcy” West, 48, to death. Both charges were found to be domestic violence related. At the end of the two-week trial, the jury handed down Kevin West’s conviction after only two hours of deliberation. During trial, prosecutors argued Kevin West killed his wife to pursue an extramarital affair with an old flame. His now fiancée, Cynthia Ward, who prosecutors said motivated the murder, testified at the trial that Kevin West intended to leave his wife because he and Ward’s affair was becoming serious. However, Kevin West’s defense attorney argued that while Kevin West was having an affair, he didn’t kill his wife. The attorney said Marcy West had a history of headaches and persistent health issues that caused a seizure and ultimately led to her death. On Friday, prosecutors called Kevin West’s lack of remorse egregious. His defense attorney sought leniency, citing his lack of a criminal record and decades of service as a paramedic. Kevin West then read a letter, tearfully maintaining his innocence. “I made every effort to save her life,” he said. “I owe you all an apology for my affair, my only wrongdoing. A mockery has been made of my wife’s passing through all of the social media craze and national attention.” He concluded by asking for a moment of silence to remember Marcy West. The Wests’ adult children, Ted and Megan West, also read statements to the court. Ted West asked Judge Robert Lewis for leniency for his father. “I have had the privilege of knowing my father for 23 years,” Ted West said. “He has always been empathetic and loving. I respectfully ask that you take his character and his positive impact into consideration.” Megan West focused on her mother and the devastating impact of her loss. “I am here to speak as my mother’s child,” she said, describing her mother as present, nurturing and strong. She fondly recalled her mother’s quirks, like asking Megan West to sing on long drives. She then turned her focus to her father, refuting the image of her mother presented during the trial. “My father’s actions took my mother’s life. They took my future with her. They took moments, memories, milestones that will never exist,” she said. She expressed resentment over her father bringing his mistress into their home soon after her mother’s death. “You were too busy with your mistress to give us the attention we needed,” Megan West said. “What you did was beyond neglect,” she continued. “It was exploitation. You didn’t just destroy your family, you made us collateral in your wreckage. You didn’t just disrespect her memory, you bulldozed over it.” As she finished her statement, a man in the gallery cheered “well said,” prompting others to erupt in nearly two minutes of applause. Lewis quickly scolded the disruptive crowd, warning that any future outbursts would result in expulsion. “This is not a performance,” Lewis said. In delivering his sentence, Lewis said he did not find Kevin West’s explanations believable. Lewis noted the specific medical knowledge Kevin West possessed as a paramedic, suggesting it was used to stage a medical event that forced complicity from the first responders who arrived that day. As Kevin West was led away in chains, people in the gallery were heard mocking him, with one man saying, “Good riddance.” Ward declined to comment to The Columbian after the sentencing.

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