PORT ORCHARD – For 26 years, Warron Big Eagle lived a very public life in Oklahoma.
YouTube videos, now removed, showed him with his Native American flute at public events. He worked as roofing salesman, his wife Debra said, and in April, Shawnee Outlook magazine reported on his part in an annual arts event to raise money for the revitalization of downtown Shawnee.
“Warron Big Eagle shares interactive stories and music performed with the Native American flute, drum and rattles,” the magazine reported.
But Big Eagle had a past people in his adopted home didn’t know about. Big Eagle was actually fugitive Ronald Lee Paulson, suspect in the 1987 rape of a young family member in Poulsbo, Washington.
Paulson, 70, is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. July 20 on five counts of first-degree rape, two counts of indecent liberties, and one count of jumping bail. Paulson was arrested in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma in May; he was tracked down by Poulsbo Police and other agencies after being notified by the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office that there was still an active warrant for Paulson’s arrest. He was returned to Kitsap County and booked into the county jail on June 23.
Bail was set at $500,000. Paulson is represented by Public Defender Kimberly Sloan.
In a letter to the court, the alleged victim, who was about 10 when the alleged crimes occurred, asked that the court not lower Paulson’s bail.
“The last time he was granted bond he ran for 26 years,” she wrote. “Those 26 years for hell for me. I have lived my life in the shadow of the things that that man has done to me. He ruined my life and all I am asking for is the opportunity to face him in court. … I need to be able to have my day in court with him. I need that closure.”
She added, “I have numbed my pain with drugs all my life. I have been sober since August of last year. In order to continue on my path to putting my life back together, I need to face my demon. That demon being [Paulson].”
Eight agencies were involved in the arrest of Paulson: Poulsbo Police Department; Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office; Kitsap County Special Assault Unit; Port Orchard Police Department; Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office; Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Sheriff’s Office; Great Falls, Montana, Sheriff’s Office; and Kern County, California, Sheriff’s Office.
The message to suspects on the run: “You’re going to spend your whole life looking behind you,” Poulsbo Deputy Police Chief Andy Pate said May 26. “At some point, [officers] are going to catch up to you.”
In 1987, the Poulsbo Police Department investigated the report of a rape which had allegedly occurred in Poulsbo. At that time, Poulsbo police detectives investigated the allegations and identified the suspect in the rape case as Ronald Lee Paulson, born in 1946, Pate reported in an earlier story.
During the investigation conducted in 1987, Paulson left Washington and a warrant for his arrest was obtained.
In 1990, Paulson was arrested in Kern County, California, and returned to Washington to stand trial for the alleged rape. After being returned to Washington, Paulson posted bond and was released from jail pending trial, which was set for December 1990. Paulson failed to appear for trial and another warrant for his arrest was issued.
In May, the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office contacted the Poulsbo Police Department and advised there was still an active warrant for Paulson’s arrest. Detective David Shurick enlisted the assistance of detectives from several other agencies in the area as well as agencies outside of Washington who had arrest information regarding Paulson.
“Using various forms of information and social media websites, a link was found to a person identifying himself as Warron Big Eagle in Pottawatomie County,” Pate reported. “Other investigative means were used to confirm the identity of Big Eagle and to verify his real name as that of Paulson, the individual wanted in this case.”
Shurick contacted the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office and requested their assistance in apprehending Paulson. Pottawatomie authorities were able to locate Paulson with information provided, confirmed Paulson’s identity with a fingerprint match, and arrested him at his home.
In an interview in May, Pate said the department would soon begin work on another major cold case — a homicide from the mid-1980s. “This year, we plan on adding another detective. That’s going to really help us out,” he said.
The Poulsbo Police Department currently consists of 21 employees: the public safety director, deputy police chief, 12 police officers, three sergeants, one detective, and three police clerks.
