Ex-Fire Department Battalion Chief Told 911 Wife Had a Seizure and Died. Now He’s Been Found Guilty of Killing Her 

A former fire department battalion chief has been convicted of killing his wife following a two-week murder trial in Washington state.

Kevin West, 52, who served with the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, was found guilty by a Clark County jury of first- and second-degree murder in the 2024 strangling death of his 48-year-old wife, Marcelle “Marcy” West, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, according to The Columbian, KOIN and KPTV.

On Jan. 8, 2024, Kevin called 911 to report that his wife was having a seizure, had stopped breathing and that he had started performing CPR, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said at the time. First responders arrived and attempted life-saving measures, but Marcy was pronounced dead.

In the days after her death, several people contacted local authorities with “concerns about Kevin and Marcy’s potential relationship issues and worries that her death may not have been natural,” the sheriff’s office said.

Prosecutors argued West was having an affair at the time of Marcy’s death and intended to leave his wife. Defense attorneys did not dispute the affair, but claimed Marcy’s recurring headaches led to a seizure that caused her death, The Columbian reported from court.

A medical examiner later determined Marcy’s cause of death was asphyxia with blunt trauma to the neck and ruled the manner of death a homicide.

During the trial, West’s now-fiancée, Cynthia Ward, testified about their relationship. She said they had known each other for 20 years and had a brief sexual relationship in 2004 while West was married to Marcy. Ward testified that they reconnected in 2023 and began meeting in secret, even though both were in other relationships, and that the relationship eventually became serious, The Columbian reported earlier this month.

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

Kevin and Marcy shared two adult children, according to KOIN. A friend of Marcy’s, Wendy Chun, told the outlet she believes “justice was served.”

“There were other ways that he could have handled the situation instead of murdering Marcy,” Chun said. “And I feel really bad for the kids … they lose both parents in this situation.”

West is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 27.