PORT ANGELES — Jay Ketchum, a politically active Sequim businessman, was found dead Friday morning at the State Patrol scales along U.S. Highway 101 east of Port Angeles.
A State Patrol trooper found Ketchum’s body at 6:30 a.m.
The cause was a gunshot wound to the head, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said.
The Sheriff’s Office concluded Ketchum shot himself.
Sheriff Bill Benedict said he didn’t know if Ketchum left a note explaining his actions or what caused him to commit suicide.
Ketchum, 55, owned Affordable Roofing, Affordable Services and Affordable Crane.
He was also no stranger to the public eye.
Ketchum had made headlines several times for throwing his money behind local political candidates.
Clallam County Public Utility District Commissioner Hugh Haffner and county Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly, whose campaigns have both benefited from his contributions, said they were both shocked by the news.
No warning
Both said they had no indication that Ketchum was depressed or facing any serious issues.
“He was one guy I never thought would do that,” Haffner said.
In Haffner’s last election in 2008, Ketchum financed a campaign called Save Our PUD, which sought to get him re-elected. Ketchum tossed $20,000 of his own money into the war chest.
“Once he committed to helping you on something, he went in 150 percent,” Haffner said.
Said Kelly, whose successful 2002 campaign received $1,000 from Ketchum: “He was a very good friend, and I’m deeply saddened.”
Use of crane
The use of one of his cranes to display a large sign urging voters to re-elect Deb Kelly as county prosecuting attorney last year prompted a supporter of her opponent, Larry Freedman, to file a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission.
The sign hung precariously near U.S. Highway 101 at his property. The complaint claimed it was worth $54,446 in undisclosed in-kind contributions.
The PDC ruled in Ketchum’s favor.
Ketchum, who ran unsuccessfully for Fire District No. 3 commissioner in 2001, found himself in the news in 2002 for allegedly chest-bumping a Clallam County sheriff’s deputy and pointing a loaded assault rifle at him.
The deputy was responding to a report of a fire at his U.S. Highway 101 home.
A jury found him not guilty of second-degree assault.
A retrial held on the third-degree-assault charge because the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision ended when he reached a settlement.
The settlement was sealed from the public.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.