CORBETT — A witness in the murder case against a Corbett woman has committed suicide.

Multnomah County Sheriff’s Lt. Mary Lindstrand says Richard Swanson, who had a history of depression, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound last week.

She says Swanson lived in a place he rented from Gerald and Hazelynn Stomps. He told detectives he saw smoke coming from the Stomps’ property at a time that coincides with when investigators think Hazelynn Stomps burned her husband’s body.

Stomps told police in February that her husband vanished after they were assaulted by two men near a bridge east of Portland. Investigators believe Stomps killed her husband and made up the story of the assault.

Stomps has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges.