SOUTH BEND - National news media sources released information that multiple murderer Michelle L. Knotek was scheduled to be released this past weekend from the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCFW) in Gig Harbor. Furthermore, local law enforcement was under the impression that she was scheduled to be released this past weekend to the jurisdiction of the Pacific County Sheriff's Office.
However, the Herald learned Monday morning that Knotek is not going to be released at this time. Melissa Williams, Public Information Officer at (WCCFW) told the Herald Monday morning, "She does not have a release date. She has a max (maximum) date of 2025."
Williams added that Knotek cannot get out at this time or any earlier "unless they (defense team) can develop a viable release plan and she does not have one."
One reason Knotek may not have been released is because she did not have a place to reside at. Sometimes inmates may be eligible to be released but they have nowhere to reside with family, friends or a halfway house may not be available. In Knotek's case, she is a predator that thrives on victims and needs to be eased back into society.
Phone calls and text messages to Knotek's family members were not returned to the Herald.
Below is a brief summary of what took place during the three killings involving Michelle Knotek and her husband, David Knotek.
Knotek, now 68, sent shockwaves throughout north Pacific County when she was responsible for killing two people in Raymond. Knotek, who has served 19 years in prison of a 22-year sentence, was convicted in 2004 of second degree murder and manslaugther for her role in the torture and deaths of Kathy Loreno and Ronald Woodworth, who were both boarders in Knotek's home located on Monohon Landing Road. Knotek accepted a plea bargain from then Pacific County Prosecutor David Burke and was convicted of second degree murder in 2004 in Pacific County Superior Court.
Through the plea bargain, the Knoteks pleaded guilty to lesser charges in 2004. Michelle Knotek entered an Alford plea which means she did not admit responsibility but acknowledged the prosecutor's case against her. Though Knotek maintained her innocence, she acknowledged that a jury would most likely have found her guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the deaths of Loreno and Woodworth. She pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter. Though an initial agreement with prosecutors would have sent her to prison for 17 years, Judge Mark McCauley sentenced her to 22 years in prison. Knotek later tried to have her convictions overturned, but her appeal was denied by the Washington Court of appeals.
David Knotek, Michelle Knotek's husband, was also convicted of the murder of her 17-year-old nephew Shane Watson, who also lived with the Knoteks. David Knotek, a Navy veteran who grew up in Raymond, was paroled from the Monroe Correctional Complex in 2016 after serving 13 years of a 15-year sentence. Their crimes made national headlines due to allegations of abuse and torture.
Michelle Knotek was also suspected of possible involvement in the February 2002 "ruled suspicious" death of James McClintock, an 81-year-old Pearl Harbor veteran, who died of head trauma a day after he reportedly fell and hit his head that incurred while she was employed as his caregiver at his home in South Bend on February 9, 2002. She told medics the elderly man had fallen. The cause of that injury was "undetermined," according to his death certificate, which indicated that he died after a "blunt impact to the head." Knotek inherited his assets, including his house and $8,800 after his beloved black Labrador, Sissy died, who was in the care of Michelle Knotek. McClintock's death was investigated by local law enforcement but evidence was not found and charges were never filed.
Pacific County Deputy Prosecutor Lori Miller maintained that Michelle Knotek showed "extreme indifference to human life." She was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kathy Loreno and Ronald Woodworth. Her husband was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Shane Watson. He was also charged with rendering criminal assistance and unlawful disposal of human remains.
At one point during the trial, Miller said, "Investigators have reasonable cause to suspect that the victims herein may have been administered some type of poisonous compounds or medications that caused the victims to be in a seriously compromised, weakened state of health."
The Three Victims...
Kathy Loreno
Kathy Loreno, 36, was a hairdresser working in South Bend when she met Michelle and they became friends. In 1991 Loreno moved out of her parents home and into the home of the Knoteks. During her stay at the Knoteks' home, it was alleged that Loreno suffered physical abuse. Loreno's family members reported her missing in 1994. When interviewed by authorities, the Knoteks said Loreno had run away with a truck driver and had moved to California. David Knotek claimed Loreno died by asphyxiating on her own. He said he did not take her to a hospital or report her death to police because of the physical injuries to Loreno's body.
Shane Watson
Shane Watson, 19, Michelle's nephew, was born in Tacoma. He moved in with the Knoteks in approximately 1988. Not long after Loreno's disappearance in 1994, Watson apparently went missing, too. David Knotek later admitted that he shot Watson in the head with a .22 caliber rifle. Investigators alleged that Knotek killed Watson because Michelle was enraged that Watson took pictures documenting the abuse of Loreno, and possibly because he planned to go to authorities about Loreno's death. David Knotek also admitted that he burned the bodies of Watson and Loreno and scattered their ashes at the beach.
Ron Woodworth
Ronald Woodworth, 57, a Vietnam War Air Force veteran, grew up in California, and attended the University of California at Berkeley, and was an expert in Egyptology. He moved to Raymond and eventually went to live with the Knoteks in approximately late 2002 before he went missing in 2003. As Loreno had been, Woodworth was also subject to severe physical abuse. Witnesses described seeing Woodworth being forced to do chores outside wearing only his underwear, and to jump from the second story roof onto gravel, wearing nothing on his feet causing broken bones and severe lacerations. Witnesses also claimed Michelle Knotek would burn Woodworth's injured feet with boiling water and pure bleach.
David Knotek later admitted to burying Woodworth's body on their property after Michelle told him that Woodworth had committed suicide. An autopsy performed by the king county medical examiner determined that Woodworth's death was murder.
The crimes of the Knoteks made national headlines because of the abuse and torture and the murder cases have been featured on several television programs, including Wicked Attraction, Sins and Secrets and Snapped. Books have also been published about the murders.
Michelle Knotek was initially arrested on August 8, 2003, and she was sentenced on August 18, 2004. The Knoteks both had their bail reset at $5 million each, after it was originally set at $2 million each.
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