A carefree spring evening at a local carnival turned into a tragedy that would haunt Spokane, Washington, for years to come with the disappearance and murder of 15-year-old Elizabeth Marks. On Friday, May 20, 1983, Elizabeth and her close friend, Rhonda Rima, also 15, were enjoying the sights and sounds of the Lilac Festival carnival at the Spokane Coliseum. The two girls were last seen by friends that day, embracing the simple joys of a typical American pastime.
When neither Elizabeth nor Rhonda returned home, a desperate search began, casting a dark shadow over the festive atmosphere of the city's annual celebration.
For three agonizing weeks, the families of Elizabeth and Rhonda waited for any news. The community held its breath, hoping for the safe return of the two teenagers. That hope was shattered when their bodies were discovered in the Spokane River. The discovery confirmed the community's worst fears and left an indelible scar on the city. A joint funeral service was held for the two friends on June 24 at the Garry Junior High School Gymnasium, where at least 300 mourners gathered to grieve the profound loss of two young lives cut tragically short.
The investigation into the double homicide stretched on for seven grueling years, a period of painful uncertainty for the girls' families. The breakthrough in the case came from an unlikely source. In 1989, an inmate in a Montana prison informed authorities that his cellmate had confessed to the murders of two teenage girls in Spokane. The cellmate, a truck driver named Martin Lee Sanders, revealed details about the killings that only the perpetrator could have known. This crucial tip finally gave investigators the lead they needed to solve the case.
Martin Lee Sanders was a serial killer who had been preying on women in the Pacific Northwest. Before murdering Elizabeth and Rhonda, he had killed two other young women, 18-year-old Marsha Weatter and 19-year-old Kathy Allen, in 1980. Sanders had been arrested on April 2, 1987, in Wyoming for the 1986 kidnapping and rape of two hitchhikers in Montana, for which he was serving a 20-year sentence when he confessed to his cellmate. His transient lifestyle as a truck driver had allowed him to evade capture for his earlier, more heinous crimes.
Following his confession, Sanders was extradited to Washington in 1990 to face charges for the murders of Elizabeth Marks and Rhonda Rima. To avoid a potential death sentence, he pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, as well as kidnapping, assault, and rape. As part of his plea deal, he also admitted his involvement in the 1980 murders of Weatter and Allen. Sanders was sentenced to life in prison, ensuring he would never again pose a threat to the community.
Martin Lee Sanders spent the remainder of his life behind bars. He died of a heart attack at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell, Washington, on April 4, 2022. While his death may have brought a sense of finality, it could never erase the pain and loss his actions caused. The memory of Elizabeth Marks and Rhonda Rima lives on, a somber reminder of the innocence lost and the lasting impact of a senseless act of violence on a community.
