Three are shot to death on Bainbridge Island\n Ty McCollough, an 18-year-old from Bainbridge Island, Washington, was a young man with his life ahead of him. He is remembered by his family, including his mother, Sandra McCollough, and his maternal grandparents, Edward and Helen Rollins, who were longtime, active members of the island community. Ty's grandfather, a former postmaster and a beloved local figure known for his humanitarian spirit, preceded him in death, having mourned the loss of his grandson.
The quiet, wooded community of Bainbridge Island was shattered by violence on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1989. In a secluded, backwoods area popular with local youth, Ty McCollough was found shot to death inside his pickup truck. With him were two friends, 23-year-old JayDee Phillips and 19-year-old Ann Rice, who had also been killed. All three victims, residents of the island, died from shotgun blasts fired through the window of the Toyota truck.
The discovery of the triple homicide sent a wave of shock and fear through the tight-knit community, which was unaccustomed to such brutal crimes.
The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office launched an investigation that would prove to be long and complex. Early on, investigators explored theories that the murders were drug-related. One scenario suggested that the three friends were tragic, unintended victims of a revenge plot. According to information provided by an informant, McCollough's truck may have been borrowed by someone else to commit a drug theft, and the killers targeted the vehicle and its occupants without realizing the three young people inside were not involved. Another version of events suggested the victims were planning to steal cocaine and were shot after a briefcase containing the drug was exchanged.
The investigation saw a series of confusing developments. A major break appeared to come when Douglas John Stanfield, a 30-year-old from Everett, confessed to his involvement while in the Snohomish County Jail. His confession implicated another man, 25-year-old Robert Welsh of Silverdale, who was subsequently arrested. However, Stanfield soon recanted his statement, leading to Welsh's release. Months later, Stanfield once again changed his story, implicating Welsh and a third unnamed suspect, which led to Welsh's re-arrest in Idaho. The case against Welsh ultimately fell apart when phone records provided him with an alibi, proving he was on a call miles away from Bainbridge Island around the time the killings occurred. The murder charges against him were permanently dismissed.
Eventually, Douglas Stanfield emerged as the sole person to be held legally responsible for the slayings. In a plea agreement with Kitsap County prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of JayDee Phillips and the second-degree murder of Ty McCollough. As part of the deal, a third murder charge for the death of Ann Rice was dismissed. Authorities believed Stanfield did not act alone and that at least one other person was involved in the ambush, but no one else was ever charged or convicted in connection with the crime.
Stanfield later attempted to withdraw his guilty pleas, claiming he had been coerced by his attorneys, but the plea was ultimately upheld. He was expected to receive a sentence of more than 28 years in prison. The case left a permanent scar on Bainbridge Island, a tragic story of three young lives violently cut short. While one person was convicted, the full truth of what happened in the woods on that March night, and who else was responsible, remains an unanswered question for the families of Ty McCollough, JayDee Phillips, and Ann Rice. 
