On a Sunday morning in October 2020, the life of Clinton E. Gulick, a 41-year-old White/Caucasian male from Bellingham, Washington, came to a violent end on a rural roadside. A passerby discovered Gulick's body on October 11, around 9:00 AM, in a gravel pullout in the 4000 block of Mosquito Lake Road, not far from Deming. He was lying face down on the ground next to his vehicle, which was still running. Responding deputies from the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office determined he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was deceased at the scene.
The investigation quickly led detectives to an associate of Gulick, 36-year-old Roseanne L. Paden of Bellingham. By that evening, Paden was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. During questioning, she revealed her involvement and implicated a second individual, 34-year-old Zachary S. Ranahan, also from Bellingham. Paden explained that she had been involved in sexual relationships with both Gulick and Ranahan, and that the two men harbored animosity towards each other. According to Paden, Gulick had previously made threats to kill Ranahan. The plot to murder Gulick was set in motion when Paden used a ruse, contacting Gulick for help with her car to lure him to the remote location.
Paden recounted that after Gulick arrived, Ranahan confronted him with a handgun. Despite Gulick’s pleas for him to put the weapon away, Ranahan shot him once. Paden could hear Gulick crying before Ranahan fired several more times. The pair then fled the scene in Paden's vehicle, leaving Gulick for dead. A manhunt for Ranahan, who was considered armed and dangerous, was initiated. He was apprehended the following evening, on October 12, and also charged with first-degree murder.
In the ensuing legal proceedings, both suspects faced justice for their roles in the killing. Zachary Ranahan ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and in November 2021 was sentenced to 34 years in prison. Roseanne Paden, who described Gulick as her best friend, accepted a plea deal. She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and in March 2023 was sentenced to 15 years in prison, to be followed by three years of probation.
