PORT TOWNSEND — Their life together sounds idyllic.
Before Michael Fenter was taken into custody, accused of one bank robbery and suspected in three others, he and his wife, Kateen Fenter, lived on the 40-acre Compass Rose Farms near Port Townsend, which produces wool, honey and produce sold at local farmers markets.
High school sweethearts in Oregon who have been together for 25 years — married for 20 — they have three children who were home-schooled for 10 years before entering public school.
Six years ago, they moved to Port Townsend.
Kateen, 37, is a farmer; the farm business is owned only by Kateen and her mother, Bev Fairing, although her father and husband work the farm.
Michael, 40, is a marine carpenter by trade, a graduate of the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, who did office work for Sea Marine until January, when he quit.
He worked at outside jobs, often away from home, to pay the bills and the mortgage on the land purchased in 2007 while the farm got on its feet.
‘No criminal record’
“He has no criminal record whatsoever,” Kateen said Sunday. “He’s a loving husband and father.
“This came out of the blue. Everyone who knows us is shocked.”
On Thursday before last, Oct. 8, Kateen said, Michael was out of town, working.
The next day, an FBI agent called.
He told Kateen her husband was in federal custody, accused of robbing a bank of $73,000.
“They thought I already knew. I didn’t know anything,” Kateen said Sunday.
“I just kept telling them, ‘No, it’s not true, it’s not Michael, it’s not even a possibility.’
“I yelled at my mom and said, ‘Get the cell phone and call him.’
“The man kept saying, ‘You’re not going to get Michael. I’ve got Michael.'”
The FBI agent said her husband was arrested Oct. 8, accused of robbing a Bank of America branch in Tacoma on that day and that the FBI suspects him of serial bank robbery up and down the West Coast.
Michael was booked in the Pierce County jail as John Doe after refusing to identify himself — originally claiming his name was Patrick Henry.
He had covered his fingerprints with glue.
The FBI learned the firearm was registered to him. A copy of his driver’s license was obtained from the state Department of Licensing, and agents found a vehicle registered to him.
‘It’s not real’
Kateen couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“It’s not real. It can’t happen like that,” she said.
In the 10 days since, Kateen has spoken to her husband once. She last saw him during his first court appearance in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Friday.
“He gave me one slight glance and looked away,” she said.
He was charged with bank robbery and being armed with a firearm in commission of a violent felony. He did not enter a plea.
Kateen said that a court-appointed attorney was requested. She doesn’t know if one was appointed.
She has expected a call from an attorney, but has heard from no one but FBI agents, with whom she has spoken several times.
“I know only what the FBI has told me,” she said. “That’s all I know.
“I need to know what’s going on, and I know nothing.
“I’m feeling so very, very lost and alone.”
Friends pitch in
Yet, she said, she hasn’t been entirely alone.
“Our local people have been wonderfully helpful,” Kateen said.
“Our community has come around us and loved us. People here in town have volunteered to do anything we need.
“Farmers want to help weed my garden and put in my winter crops. People have fixed cars and chopped wood for us.”
They live a thrifty life, she said.
“Three broken down cars — that shows how wealthy we are. . . . We’re not big spenders.”
About 13 months ago, the Fenters refinanced the property on West Uncas Road, which is south of Discovery Bay and south and west of U.S. Highway 101.
“We haven’t paid off the farm,” Kateen said. “We refinanced with a new bank so we could lower our payments.
“I still have a mortgage I have to make without an income.”
Success story
Washington State University Extension Service for Jefferson County calls the farm a business success story on its Web site, http://tech.jefferson.wsu.edu/.
The Fenters gave a conservation easement to Jefferson Land Trust to protect salmon habitat on Snow Creek. ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, a founding partner of Jefferson LandWorks Collaborative, financed the initial purchase.
“We farm together,” Kateen said. “We try to have sustainable practices. We’re not certified organic yet.
“We sell wool for spinners. We have a greenhouse and sell honey.”
Now, everything has changed.
Michael Fenter is in the SeaTac Federal Detention Center, facing years in prison if he is found guilty.
“I love my husband very much,” Kateen Fenter said.
“I just keep praying that there is a good reason why all this happened, and I don’t know what that is yet.
“I don’t understand why.”
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
