Henrikson grew increasingly belligerent with Carlile, according to witness accounts detailed in a police affidavit. Around Labor Day, he showed up in Washington at the office of Carlile’s son, Skyler, and demanded $400,000. Skyler told police that Henrikson warned him “something bad could happen to me and my family” if Carlile didn’t find the money.
Pamp Maiers, the former real estate partner who had previously loaned money to Carlile, said in an interview the two spoke several times in the month before the shooting as Carlile sought to raise cash. Maiers said he had no interest in oil speculation in North Dakota.
“I told him no, no, no, every time he asked me,” said Maiers, 71. “It was probably four times. It was some big, high- flying deal. He said he needed 400 grand really bad. They were going to lose the property, and he owed money to somebody.”
Kitchen Shooting
On Dec. 15, Doug and Elberta Carlile came home from church at around 7 o’clock in the evening. Elberta got out of their truck and went in the back door of the house while Carlile closed the black, wrought-iron gate over their driveway.
Elberta walked upstairs and then heard voices from the kitchen, according to an account she gave police. She came back downstairs to see a man dressed in black, with a facemask, pointing a large black semiautomatic handgun at her husband.
“Don’t do anything, don’t do anything,” Doug Carlile pleaded.
Elberta bolted up the stairs and heard five or six shots as she reached the top step. She hid in a closet and called 911. The gunman fled as Doug Carlile lay dead on the kitchen floor. Neighbors told police they saw a white van idling nearby.
Three hours after the shooting, a Spokane detective called Henrikson in North Dakota, police records show. Henrikson said “he is very angry with Carlile” and he was frustrated that he “does not pay people the money they are owed,” according to an affidavit. Henrikson said that Carlile owed him $1.88 million. He denied killing Carlile or knowing why anyone would hurt him.
Murder Mystery