Spokane, Wash. — Eli Hampshire, 30, was arrested for hitting and killing a mother of six with his SUV.
Court documents show Hampshire purchased the black Ford Flex from a friend on Sunday the 25th, the day before the hit-and-run that killed 46-year-old Smaah Adam. The acquaintance who sold him the car saw the press release put out by Spokane Police and recognized specific markings on it, so they called police.
That person also called Hampshire’s girlfriend, who denied that she or Eli were driving the car and asked the seller to not tell the cops who they sold it to.
Court documents show co-workers of Hampshire at a construction company told detectives they saw him throwing some car parts away in the dumpster the morning after the crash, which ended up being part of a headlight and a piece of the trim. They also noticed damage to Hampshire’s car.
Detectives wrote in their report they viewed surveillance video of Eli Hampshire parking the car in an alley three minutes after the crash and getting out of the car.
Investigators say Hampshire and two other people rented a trailer, put the SUV on it and concealed it with a tarp on Tuesday afternoon. Then, Hampshire used a pickup to tow it up to Stevens County and push it down an embankment off Buck Creek Road in a remote area. Court documents show police found the location based off a warrant they used on Hampshire’s cellphone data.
His bond was set at $1 million. He’ll be back in court to make a plea at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
His girlfriend, Heather Langman, was also arrested and faces a charge of rendering criminal assistance. Her bond was set at $5,000.
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