Clay Lee Haltom, 60, and his girlfriend Bryana Emila Presler, 43, were found dead in the front seat of their Ford Explorer in Port Angeles, Washington, on February 24, 2022. The vehicle had come to a low-speed rest against a tree across the street from their travel trailer on Wild Currant Way. What was first treated as a single-car collision was reclassified after investigators determined the injuries were not consistent with a minor crash; autopsy findings later showed both had been fatally shot in the back of the head.

Police quickly focused on Clay Haltom’s son, Christopher Lee Haltom, 40, who lived with the victims and was seen on surveillance footage earlier the same day purchasing ammunition for a .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol at a Port Angeles pawn shop and holding the weapon at the counter. Christopher, a convicted felon, was arrested on an outstanding unlawful-possession-of-a-firearm warrant tied to that purchase. Investigators recovered a .22-caliber Ruger pistol near a road in the Agnew area and examined its possible link to the killings. Detectives later developed probable cause to charge Christopher with the murders.

Christopher Haltom had documented mental-health issues, including auditory hallucinations and delusional beliefs. While held on the firearm charge, and after being named a person of interest, he was found dead at Western State Hospital on May 15, 2023; an autopsy was to determine the cause of death. Does anyone have information about the victims, the pawn shop purchase, or events on February 24, 2022?