YACHT WAS SET AFIRE TO CONCEAL SLAYING

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) -- The 38-foot yacht "Foxy Lady" was torched at its
mooring in the Warrenton Boat Basin to conceal the stabbing death of a
37-year-old woman, authorities said.

Dana Ann Bailey was stabbed in the head and chest. Chemical tests showed
she had not inhaled gases, indicating she died before the cabin cruiser was
set afire, Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said.

Investigators say Anthony Scott Garner, 38, who lived aboard the boat, and
Leslie Roy Simpkins, 36, tortured and killed Bailey because they thought
she was a drug informant.

Garner was accused of setting the fire early Sunday in an attempt to
conceal the slaying. The boat was damaged and sank. Bailey's body was
burned beyond recognition.

Garner and Simpkins were being held without bail on two counts each of
aggravated murder pending a grand jury review of the case.

Each man accused the other of killing Bailey on Saturday night, according
to police affidavits.

Police learned of the killing after Simpkins told a bartender in Warrenton
that his friend had killed a woman aboard his boat. Simpkins gave police
his knife, telling them it was one of the knives Garner had used.

Garner later told police that Simpkins had killed Bailey and that he burned
the boat to protect Simpkins, the affidavit said.

The boat was moved to land at the Hammond Marina on Tuesday and searched
for evidence. Buckets of charred debris, including a knife, blackened
clothing and a woman's purse, were removed.

On Wednesday, Clatsop County divers searched the bottom of the Skipanon
River, where the boat had been moored.

Both Garner and Simpkins have lengthy prison records in Oregon and elsewhere.

Garner served time in Washington state for negligent homicide; he killed a
16-year-old boy while trying to outrun police in a stolen car.

Simpkins spent six years in prison in Colorado for assaulting a jailer and
escaping from the Gunnison County jail in May 1990.

Copyright 1997 Associated Press.

Checked-by: Richard Lake