The estate of Aron Christensen, a Portland musician who was fatally shot and found dead alongside his dog near Walupt Lake south of Packwood in August 2022, has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the primary suspect in the case and the suspect’s father.
The suspect, identified in investigative documents and the lawsuit as Tenino resident Ethan M. Asbach — whose sworn statement says he is “responsible” for the gunshot — has not yet faced prosecution.
Asbach and his father, Michael R. Asbach, are named as the defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed in the Western Washington District of U.S. District Court on Monday, the two-year anniversary of Christensen’s death.
“The family is grieving the anniversary of the loss of Aron and is not going to comment at this time. But we believe our complaint and the amended tort claim notice speak for their position,” the attorneys representing Christensen’s estate, Lorenzo Leoni of Morgan Hill P.C. in Olympia and Pilar C. French of Lane Powell in Seattle, said in an email to The Chronicle.
The lawsuit requests a jury trial to address “wrongful death, negligence, battery, conversion and strict liability for engaging in abnormally dangerous activity,” and asks for economic relief of $1.5 million per defendant in the case.
The lawsuit includes a narrative of Ethan and Michael Asbach’s alleged involvement in Christensen’s death and cites interviews and other investigative materials collected by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office during its investigation into Christensen’s death.
According to that investigative material, Michael Asbach was camping near Walupt Lake the weekend of Aug. 19 to Aug. 21, 2022. Christensen embarked on a 13-mile hike with his 4-month-old puppy, Buzzo, the morning of Aug. 19. Passing hikers found their bodies near the 101 trail the afternoon of Aug. 20.
Michael Asbach and a group of friends reportedly arrived at Walupt Lake Campground at 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 19 and took Nannie Ridge Trail up to Sheep Lake, where they planned to camp through Sunday, Aug. 21.
“The purpose of the trip was purportedly bear hunting,” according to the lawsuit.
Ethan Asbach, who was 19 at the time, and an unnamed 17-year-old female from Rochester, reportedly planned to join the group at Sheep Lake after the 17-year-old got off work the afternoon of Aug. 19.
“When making arrangements with Ethan about meeting up, Michael gave Ethan directions to get to Sheep Lake via Nannie Ridge. Michael also instructed Ethan to pack Michael’s Taurus 9mm handgun for the trip, which Ethan did,” according to the lawsuit.
Ethan Asbach later told investigators that his father told him to bring the firearm “for protection against wild animals in the area” since he knew he’d be hiking after dark, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Ethan Asbach reportedly retrieved the gun from his father’s truck and stored it in his backpack.
“Priming the pump for disaster, Michael specifically entrusted Ethan with the gun, and concurrently told Ethan to bring the gun for protection against wild animals in the area,” the lawsuit states, noting that because he was 19 at the time, Ethan was legally prohibited from carrying a gun in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, where Walupt Lake and Sheep Lake are located.
“Indeed, Ethan’s simple act of taking the gun off the premises of the Asbach home and carrying the gun into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest constituted a misdemeanor,” the lawsuit states, adding, “Both Ethan and Michael purport to be experienced gun owners and, therefore, neither of them should have disregarded the law and basic rules of firearm safety.”
Ethan and the 17-year-old reportedly left the Walupt Lake Trailhead en route to Sheep Lake at approximately 9 p.m. on Aug. 19, according to previous Chronicle reporting. They reportedly “missed the crucial left turn up Nannie Ridge and, instead, continued down Walupt Lake Trail,” where Christensen was hiking with Buzzo.
Between 45 minutes and an hour after the two started hiking, the 17-year-old reported hearing “a possible growling noise,” according to the lawsuit and previous Chronicle reporting.
The 17-year-old told detectives “she believed this was a mountain lion, which she also told Ethan,” per investigative reports.
The growling soon got louder and closer to Asbach, prompting Asbach to reportedly “start shouting in an attempt to try and scare off whatever animal was growling at him.”
As he was yelling, Asbach allegedly reached into his backpack, pulled out the firearm, inserted a magazine and chambered a round.
Asbach reportedly shined his headlamp toward the growling as it “became more aggressive and closer” and saw “a reflection of two eyes from an animal” about 15 to 20 feet away.
Asbach allegedly reported “he got scared and the animal was not retreating from his commands,” so “he fired one shot at the animal.” Asbach then reported hearing “a yipping and howling noise” as “the animal ran away from his direction.”
The 17-year-old reportedly noted that when the animal fled, “Ethan believed it may have been a wolf.”
Asbach reportedly claimed “the animal died in 30 seconds or less,” according to the lawsuit.
The two reportedly “stood still for several minutes to see if anything else was a threat towards them” before Asbach walked in the direction the animal ran.
Asbach said he quickly found Christensen and Buzzo’s bodies, and Asbach “immediately noticed there was a bullet wound to the left side of the male’s body,” per the report.
Ethan allegedly “admitted to seeing a bullet hole in Aron’s body, but claimed he only fired one shot and the bullet must have gone through Buzzo into Aron’s body,” according to the lawsuit.
Asbach later stated he assumed the dog “was the animal he had shot.”
The 17-year-old reported Asbach “quickly came back to her and said there was a body there.” She then walked over and confirmed there was a body, noting “the male appeared to have already been dead.”
Asbach told law enforcement “he got scared and was in shock and did not know what to do,” so in an effort to reach his father, he and the 17-year-old continued hiking toward Sheep Lake Campground, leaving the scene between 11:40 p.m. and 12:15 a.m.
Ethan reportedly claimed he and the 17-year-old returned to Walupt Lake Campground “to try and find his dad, and then ended up getting lost on the Pacific Crest Trail, where they eventually camped for the night,” according to the lawsuit.
They reportedly set up camp around 3 or 4 a.m. on Aug. 20, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
At dawn, they returned to Asbach’s vehicle at the Walupt Lake Trailhead, drove to Asbach’s residence and waited for his father to return.
Cellphone mapping completed in January 2023 supports Asbach’s narrative.
Asbach reportedly “stated he did not contact 911 because he wanted to talk to his father about what occurred,” according to a subsequent report from a detective.
“At no time did Ethan or (the juvenile) seek help from other campers or hikers, despite hundred of people being close by at Walupt Lake campground, mere feet across the paved parking lot from the trailhead,” the lawsuit states, noting that “at no time” did Ethan or the juvenile try to call 911 or revive Christensen.
“Ethan admitted to law enforcement that he believed he killed Aron, but he was afraid that he, his dad and (the juvenile) were going to be in trouble,” the lawsuit states. “So, from the time of the shooting and all the next day when they claim to have floundered, lost in the woods for several hours, Ethan and (the juvenile) eventually hiked out past numerous campers and hikers to their vehicle. During this time, Ethan and (the juvenile) did not say a word to any of the numerous people around them who could have helped Aron. Instead, Ethan and (the juvenile) fled back to Tenino, a three-hour drive, to wait for Michael to return from camping.”
The Lewis County Coroner’s Office has since confirmed that Christensen was alive for two to four hours between when he was shot and when he died.
Christensen was reportedly suffering from a major heart attack, described by Coroner Warren McLeod as an acute myocardial infraction (MI), for at least 12 hours before his death — which possibly could have been fatal on its own. “But once you now have a projectile entered into the body at a high rate, which is a bullet, now that starts all sorts of physiological issues that exacerbates what was going on with the MI,” McLeod told The Chronicle in April 2023.
The bullet wound itself did not appear to be immediately fatal, McLeod said, “but there was an acute MI going on … and there was a delay in getting medical help, so those are all contributing factors.”
The coroner’s office has ruled Christensen’s cause of death as a gunshot wound to the chest and the manner of death as homicide.
The lawsuit alleges that Michael Asbach acted negligently by entrusting his firearm to Ethan and instructing him to carry it into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and that Ethan Asbach acted negligently by carrying the firearm into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, disregarding “the basic rules of firearm safety and how to apply these rules to the circumstances at hand, especially when carrying at night, during the summer season when hiking trails in the area would have been teeming with hikers and campers.” The lawsuit also claims Ethan’s decisions to hike at night and then to flee the area and not seek help for over 48 hours were negligent.
“Ethan’s conduct was the cause of Aron’s death and, thus, he is strictly liable for any harm that occurred to Aron and his estate,” the lawsuit claims.
While the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office referred first-degree manslaughter and animal cruelty charges to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer declined to file charges against Asbach due to issues with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office’s initial response to the scene at Walupt Lake Trail and subsequent investigation into Christensen’s death.
According to case records, when Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy Andrew Scrivner arrived at the scene on Aug. 20, 2022, he made the call to move both bodies after believing Christensen was not shot.
“The old adage of ‘investigate it like it’s a homicide until it isn’t’ was not followed here,” Meyer wrote in an April 2023 letter explaining his charging decision.
After his arrival at the scene, Scrivner also called off back-up, including a detective who had already arrived at the campground where the trail began, more than a two-hour drive from the sheriff’s office in Chehalis.
Meyer stated that Scrivner’s “error” was “compounded” by his immediate supervisor “endorsing” the idea to move the bodies.
“It is impossible to tell what, if any, additional evidence would have been obtained had detectives responded and been allowed to investigate this matter, properly, from the beginning,” Meyer wrote. “Unfortunately, the friends/family of Mr. Christensen will never know either.”
In an April 2023 interview with The Chronicle, Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza Snaza said, “(With) the decline letter, I have a little frustration because I felt that our staff — I mean, other than the initial response — the deputy at the scene scanned the area for any and all evidence that may be visible around Mr. Christensen … we were up there multiple times. I just feel strongly that we would be where we’re at today.”
Meyer’s letter, however, lists the initial response as just one in a long list of complaints about the investigation and how it was handled, both in and outside of the sheriff’s office. Other complaints included contradicting necropsy reports for Buzzo and possible cross-contamination between instruments used on Buzzo and Christensen’s evaluations.
“To date, the state of Washington officials have taken no further action. Ethan and Michael walk free with impunity,” the lawsuit states. “In contrast, Aron’s beneficiaries have been deprived of a life without Aron. They have suffered extreme and emotional distress. Their lives have been wholly interrupted and forever changed.”
In the lawsuit filed against Ethan and Michael Asbach on Monday, the attorneys for Christensen’s estate detail the errors of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office investigation that led to the case being dismissed.
The lawsuit also details communication issues between members of Christensen’s family and investigators, including inaccurate, contradicting and emotionally damaging statements that sheriff’s office and coroner’s office personnel allegedly said to members of Christensen’s family during the investigation.
Specifically citing conversations between Christensen’s brother Corey Christensen and Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and Lewis County Coroner’s Office representatives, the lawsuit claims investigators caused Corey “great emotional distress, anxiety and frustration,” adding that “(Corey) felt the police and coroner were trying to convince him that Aron’s and Buzzo’s deaths were natural —- when common sense revealed that the deaths were anything but.”
Lewis County is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed on Monday.
Christensen’s estate filed a separate $20 million legal claim against Lewis County in May 2023, claiming the sheriff’s office “maliciously damaged the estate’s property, one deceased puppy, in order to sabotage a criminal investigation.”
The allegations in that claim stem from the fact that the two necropsies on Christensen’s deceased puppy, Buzzo — one performed by local veterinarian Dr. Brandy Fay in September and one performed by forensic veterinary specialist Dr. Kris Otteman in November — resulted in vastly different determinations on Buzzo’s cause of death.
That lawsuit accuses the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, which had custody of Buzzo’s body between the two necropsies, of creating that exit wound and, in doing so, making it so the results of the necropsy aligned with the suspect’s narrative and thus sabotaging the investigation into Christensen’s and Buzzo’s deaths.
In July 2023, Gov. Jay Inslee declined a request from Corey Christensen and his attorney to refer the case to the state Attorney General’s office for an independent investigation and possible prosecution. Meyer also declined the same request from Corey in May 2023.
Those two requests were made separately from Christensen’s estate.
The Asbachs were not immediately available for comment.
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office declined a request for comment. The Lewis County Coroner’s Office and Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
