It would take a considerable amount of research before I could say with any certainty how many murders the Chinook Observer has covered in my 30 years as boss. This shouldn’t be taken to imply that I’m unconcerned about any of them — they were all horrible crimes and we are diligent as a small newspaper can be about reporting on them. But 30 years is a fairly long time and Pacific County has more homicides than you might expect of such a well-favored place.

Right now, there are three active first-degree murder cases working their way through the county justice system. In our July 13 edition we’ll go into considerable detail about the latest one, a particularly repugnant crime that is reminiscent of behavior one might see in an episode of the TV show “Breaking Bad.”

It is very much an open question just how our rural county will manage to deal with what could be three expensive prosecutions. It may come as a surprise to many of you that government finances are part of the criminal-justice equation. But local taxpayers foot the bill for the prosecution — and often the defense — of murderers and alleged murderers. Including items like expert witnesses, each of these cases can easily run into many tens of thousands of dollars. Exploring such practical considerations will be part of our coverage in coming weeks and months.

These murders are on top of serious assault cases, drug-dealing prosecutions and other matters that don’t stop happening just because somebody else did something even worse by taking a life.

Why does our county rack up so many serious crimes? I think it’s the dark side of a phenomenon I sometimes speak about — that restless Americans tend to move westward and this is about as far west as we can go. The positive side of this is that our neighborhoods are packed with brilliant and creative people. The dark side is that this is where other folks run out of their last chances and bash around next to the ocean, harming themselves and everyone around them.

I’ve been threatening to write a book — maybe a slightly fictionalized one — that explores some of our brilliant place’s dark corners. One of the murders I recall most vividly was of a homeless man whose body was dumped in the woods above Knappton after he apparently was kidnapped and slain by someone who gave him a lift across the Astoria-Megler Bridge. It haunted then-Sheriff Jerry Benning, and still haunts me, because the murderer was never found — perhaps just a random patch of evil who happened to see an opportunity to do harm.

Sorry if this newsletter is depressing. Much as I love and prefer good news, a key aspect of our mission is letting you know about the bad stuff. Only by knowing the facts can we act together to ensure law enforcement, social services and courthouse personnel have the resources they need to keep up with the tide of crime.

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