Meeting between former co-workers allegedly leads to the murder of Whatcom business owner

A lunchtime meeting Thursday between former co-workers at a Ferndale building company resulted in the business owner being murdered by gunshot and a manhunt for the man suspected of killing him, court documents show.

Court records show that 49-year-old Todd Daniel Andersen was charged with first-degree murder Thursday, July 7, in Whatcom County Superior Court. Andersen is suspected of shooting and killing 58-year-old Douglas Scoggins of Ferndale.

As of Friday morning, July 8, Andersen was still at large, city of Ferndale spokesperson Riley Sweeney told The Bellingham Herald in an email. A city news release Thursday described Andersen as 5-foot-7, 220 pounds.

Andersen is believed to be driving a rented silver 2020 Dodge Charger with Oregon license plates 553MJM, according to the release. Nexis records show Andersen lives in Bellingham.

“The suspect is considered armed and dangerous,” the Ferndale release stated. “Members of the public who have information about Mr. Andersen’s whereabouts are encouraged to contact the Ferndale Police Department by calling 911.”

According to Whatcom County Superior Court documents filed Thursday:

▪ Ferndale Police were sent at 12:04 p.m. Thursday to Pioneer Post and Frame Inc. in the 6200 block of Portal Way for the report of an assault with a weapon. Officers arrived and found medics treating Scoggins on the second floor of the business for multiple gunshot wounds. Their efforts were unsuccessful and Scoggins was pronounced dead at the scene.

▪ Police spoke with a Pioneer Post and Frame employee, who reported that at approximately 11:15 a.m., a man, later identified as Andersen, entered through the back door of the business and asked if Scoggins was in the office to have lunch. The employee checked with Scoggins, who said he would be right there. Scoggins arrived and greeted Andersen, and the two men went upstairs to Scoggins’ office.

▪ The employee reported she could hear the two men talking upstairs, but could not hear what they were talking about. Suddenly she reported hearing seven gunshots from upstairs.

▪ The employee reported Andersen ran down the stairs, pointed a gun at her and yelled “he (Scoggins) stole from me, he stole from my company.” Andersen then turned the gun away and went looking for another employee, who had already left the building through a rear window.

▪ The reporting employee said she then went upstairs and found Scoggins and called 911.

▪ Another, long-term employee told police that he knew Andersen as an employee from many years ago and had talked to him that morning at Pioneer Post and Frame. That employee also told police that Andersen was driving a newer Dodge Charger or Challenger with Oregon plates. Police later learned the car was the Charger, which had been rented in Spokane on July 2 and is due back on July 9.

Investigators spoke by phone with Pioneer Post and Frame’s accountant who confirmed that Andersen had worked with the company from Jan. 1, 1998, through April 1, 2003, court documents state. He lived in Bellingham on East Sunset Drive at the time.

The accountant also told police that there had been a long-term Department of Labor and Industries claim involving Andersen, but she did not know the details about it, according to documents.

Investigators also learned that Andersen currently lives in Liberty Lake, though his landlord reported he had not paid rent in months and was in the process of being evicted, documents state. Police also learned that Andersen had worked at Metal Sales in Spokane, but quit his job on June 24, telling a human resources representative last week he was “going on to greener pastures.”

Nexis records list Scoggins as the owner of Pioneer Post Frame Inc. According to its website, the company specialized in commercial, agricultural and personal storage buildings and can help with design, engineering, permitting, building pad preparation and construction.

As previously reported by The Bellingham Herald, Scoggins oversaw the construction of Pioneer Flexspace Premium Storage Condominiums on Portal Way, about a half-mile north of the Pioneer Post Frame offices. The 7.5-acre site was expected to be completed in 2020 and have 108 storage units covering about 225,000 square feet and offer storage for RVs and boats as well as being used as places to turn ideas into businesses and establish a U.S. presence for existing Canadian companies, Scoggins told The Herald in 2019.