The Clark County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) Cold Case Team has solved a decades-old case, marking the oldest cold-case resolution in agency history. Investigators identified two suspects in a 1962 double homicide near Battle Ground. The final DNA breakthrough came on October 1, 2026, more than 64 years after the murders.

The investigation also took an unexpected turn earlier this year when detectives learned that one of the suspects had died just two days before DNA evidence linked him to the crime.

On June 24, 1962, Charles Hale, 71, and Lester McCollum, 67, were found dead on a property near Battle Ground. The two men were brothers-in-law who lived in separate residences on the same property. Both deaths were ruled homicides. McCollum died from suffocation due to strangulation, while Hale died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Several days later, Hale’s Ford sedan was recovered in Seattle. Investigators collected a fingerprint from the rearview mirror, but it remained unidentified until 2017, when it was matched to Barton M. Stebbins, who was 17 years old at the time of the murders. Despite the breakthrough, progress on the case was limited by competing investigative priorities and a lack of dedicated cold case resources.

In October 2025, CCSO Cold Case Investigator Michael Ramon and Major Crimes Unit Sergeant Fred Neiman Jr. located and interviewed Stebbins, then 80, in Hemet, California. Although Stebbins did not confess, investigators identified inconsistencies in his statements. Stebbins told investigators he had been traveling with another teenager around the time of the 1962 murders. During the 2025 interview, Stebbins also voluntarily provided investigators with a DNA sample.

Investigators worked with the Washington State Patrol (WSP) Crime Laboratory to reexamine evidence from the original investigation, including twine used to bind one of the victims and cigarette butts recovered from Hale’s vehicle.

On June 3, 2026, investigators learned that DNA testing indicated Stebbins was likely a contributor to the DNA recovered from the twine. DNA evidence from the cigarette butts also strongly linked him to the vehicle. As investigators prepared to seek an arrest warrant, they learned Stebbins had died of natural causes on June 1, just two days earlier.

Investigators continued working to identify a second DNA profile recovered from the cigarette butts. Their investigation led them to Walter Stain, who was also a teenager at the time of the murders and had died in 2019.

After obtaining a DNA reference sample from one of Stain’s descendants, investigators learned on October 1, 2026, that the WSP Crime Laboratory had found strong evidence supporting Stain as the contributor to the previously unidentified DNA profile.

Although both suspects are now deceased and cannot face prosecution, the Cold Case Team believes the evidence has finally provided answers in a double homicide that remained unsolved for more than six decades.

"While we are extremely disappointed that the suspects cannot be held accountable in court, we are grateful to finally have answers," said Sergeant Neiman. "A major part of our mission is finding the truth and providing some measure of closure to victims' families."

Investigators have contacted descendants of both victims to share the findings. Surviving family members of both suspects were also cooperative throughout the investigation.

The resolution of the case reflects decades of investigative work, advances in forensic DNA technology, and the continued efforts of CCSO's Cold Case Team to bring answers to victims' families.