Woman believed addled by kratom facing trial on two felonies

By Mike Weland

At about 10:18 p.m. Thursday, July 24, calls flooded into sheriff’s dispatch of a domestic disturbance at a residence in Kaniksu Trailer Court on Bonners Ferry’s North Side, one so loud one call came in from the upper end of Wells Street.

Bonners Ferry Police Chief Willie Cowell, officer Robbie Bates and sheriff’s deputies Anthony Jeppesen and Greg Reynolds arrived on scene at almost the same time. Bonners Ferry tattoo artist Archie Biegler sat alone on his trailer’s step, clearly rattled, his left eye red and swollen.

A sweep of his home and property showed that he was alone, though there was evidence that a struggle had taken place inside the trailer, where an unfinished 3.5-foot sword, no edge on the blade but the tip sharp and honed, was found.

Scuffs in the sandy yard showed sign that the scuffle had continued outside. A dusty and dirty pair of woman’s sunglasses were found lying in the dirt in front of the trailer.

Biegler reluctantly identified his assailant as client Lynette Fredrickson, 43, his girlfriend of a year, saying she would think he called police though he hadn’t. He didn’t want to press charges, saying Fredrickson, who has ADHD, had likely been abusing her prescription Adderall, having stopped at Liberty Station that evening and bought kratom, an addictive legal “natural” supplement that offers supposed benefits ranging from stimulant-like, energizing and uplifting, to opioid-like, causing drowsiness and euphoria, but can affect people in a variety         of adverse ways.

As many as 15-million Americans are estimated to use kratom to find energy, deal with chronic pain or to ease opioid withdrawal. And it is not harmless.

“At nearly every gas station these days, you can find an array of elixirs and pills at the counter,” Bonners Ferry family doctor Edward Moellmer wrote Saturday as a “Family Doctor PSA.” “Some are relatively harmless combinations of B vitamins and caffeine. Others contain horribly addictive ingredients. Right now, there is essentially no regulations or enforcement of these products. This one, ironically called ‘Feel Free,’ is particularly awful as it contains both Kratom and Kava. This is not much different than selling a combination of fentanyl and Xanax. Please don’t buy any of these gas station supplements. Tell your kids to avoid them. As a doctor, I am seeing more and more people with genuine addiction to these drugs that they buy at the convenience store.”

Both Adderall and kratom, Archie said, were mind-altering and they explained why Fredrickson was often violent and irrational. He said she insisted he had her medications, that the altercation got “kind of physical.”

Under questioning, Archie admitted that Lynette had attacked him, raining down a barrage of punches while he tried to push her off him. She tried to scratch and poke his eye out as he pushed her away to defend himself. Breaking free, he said, he took her purse and tried to use it to lure her outside — instead, she took up the sword and attacked him as he went out and put her purse in her car.

Law enforcement left Kaniksu Trailer Park and went to the Bonners Ferry Apartments where Fredrickson lives. They were gathered in the courtyard when she approached from the parking lot, sweating, her breathing labored, hands fidgeting.

They asked her about the incident at the trailer park. Her eyes began darting, she denied being in a relationship with Biegler and claimed to not know what they were talking about.

She tried to walk away, becoming frantic and refusing to obey orders to sit and she repeatedly attempted to flee to her apartment until placed under arrest and handcuffed.

Despite Archie’s request that Fredrickson not be prosecuted, Chief Cowell determined that due to the severity of the offences and consistencies described by Biegler regarding an established history of irrational and unpredictability oftentimes displayed by Frederickson, furtherance of the investigation was a must and on July 25 she was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault, both felonies, and resisting or obstructing arrest, a misdemeanor.

Free on $10,000 bond, Lynette faces 15 years if found guilty of aggravated battery, five years and/or up to a $5,000 fine if convicted of aggravated battery, and up to one year in jail and/or up to a $1,000 fine if found guilty of resisting/obstructing at the conclusion of her two-day jury trial scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday, January 12, in the Boundary County Courthouse before Judge Susie Jensen.