Authorities link knife to Ephrata boy's death

EPHRATA, Wash. (AP) — Investigators have linked a knife they found three months ago to the slaying of a 13-year-old Ephrata boy, a Grant County deputy prosecutor said Wednesday.

Deputy Prosecutor Ed Owens said tests conducted at the state crime laboratory in Spokane and released June 1 revealed that a knife tip recovered from the skull of Craig Sorger matches a knife recovered three months ago in a recreational vehicle park.

Sorger, 13, was found beaten and stabbed to death in the park Feb. 15, 2003.

Evan Savoie and Jake Eakin, both 13, have been accused in his death.

Owens declined to describe the knife or exactly where it was recovered. No fingerprints or DNA were recovered from it, he said.

Owens said investigators believe they can link the weapon to one of the two suspects, but he declined to comment further.

Savoie and Eakin, who were 12 when they were first accused, pleaded innocent in March after a judge determined they should be tried as adults. Their attorneys have appealed that decision to the state Court of Appeals.

They are believed to be the youngest children ever charged as adults with murder in the state.

A first-degree murder conviction for an adult carries a standard sentencing range of 20 to 26 years in prison. A juvenile conviction would allow a defendant to be released at age 21.

Trial has been scheduled for September.