Last Four Charged for February 2020 Ethel Home Invasion Convicted

Verdict: Jury Finds Winlock Man Guilty of Robbery, Burglary Charges

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With a June 11 jury verdict finding Charles G. Holmes guilty of one count of first-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree robbery, all four co-defendants have been officially convicted for their involvement in a February 2020 home-invasion robbery in Ethel.

Holmes, 55, of Winlock, and two of his co-defendants, Angela M. Rothschiller, 34, of Snohomish, and Michelle L. Rothschiller, 39, of Marysville, were sentenced in Lewis County Superior Court on June 16.

Judge J. Andrew Toynbee sentenced Holmes to a cumulative 216 months in jail followed by 18 months in community custody.

Holmes is also required to pay $3,200 in court fines.

Both the Rothschillers entered guilty pleas to their respective burglary and theft charges a couple months ago. The court allowed them to withdraw their guilty pleas and be sentenced on lesser charges following Holmes’ trial.

Angela Rothschiller received a collective 15-month jail sentence with credit for time served, and was released on Thursday to serve 18 months in community custody. Michelle Rothschiller received a collective 14-month jail sentence with credit for time served and has been released.

The fourth co-defendant, Sambath Loeung, 43, of Kent, pleaded guilty to burglary and theft charges in April and was sentenced June 2 to serve 102 months in custody, with credit for 12 months already served, followed by 12 months in community custody.

While one of the two victims died of unrelated causes before the case was resolved, the court will require all four co-defendants to pay restitution to the surviving victim.

The restitution amount will be determined during a June 22 hearing.

The four co-defendants had been accused of breaking into and attempting to rob an Ethel residence on Feb. 16, 2020. The victims reported that a man in a ski mask, later identified as Holmes, had knocked on their door with what appeared to be an assault rifle — but was later learned to be a BB gun — and forced his way into their home, accompanied by another man in a mask who was later identified as Loeung.

The victims, one man and one woman, reported that Holmes was “yelling at them asking where the drugs were,” had them both zip-tied, threatened to cut off the male’s toes and threatened to rape the female victim, presumably in front of the male.

“There was a degree of unnecessary cruelty to the execution of this crime,” Toynbee said at Holmes’ sentencing hearing.



Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to an open 911 call from the residence at approximately 1:20 a.m. and found the Rothschiller sisters listening to a police scanner in a running vehicle outside the house, relaying information to the men in the house.

“This was a well-planned out crime. Perhaps not well executed, or perhaps not as well-planned as it could have been,” Toynbee said at Holmes’ sentencing hearing. Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead stated that, had Holmes not ignored warnings that police were on the way in favor of continuing to look for drugs, “this would not have been a solved crime.”

Toynbee found that chemical dependency significantly contributed to Holmes’ crimes and ordered that Holmes undergo a substance use disorder evaluation and complete all recommended treatment.

Holmes’ attorney, Paul Strophy, told the court there’s indication that if Holmes “can maintain employment and sobriety, he can be law-abiding.”

According to Strophy, Holmes has over five years of consecutive law-abiding behavior in his history, and had a job waiting for him had he been found not guilty. 

“As bad as the facts are, there’s still a human side to Mr. Holmes,” he said.

“The part that bothers the state the most about this case,” said Halstead, “is he (Holmes) could have just gone over and done this himself.”

According to witness testimony at Holmes’ trial, Holmes “recruited” Loeung and the two Rothschillers to participate in the robbery.

“This could have been accomplished single-handedly by Mr. Holmes, but he brought in other people … They could have said no, but nevertheless,” Toynbee said.