Woman who allegedly caused fatal 2024 fatal wreck dies

Published 11:00 am Friday, January 16, 2026

Michelle Oster, accused of killing two people and severely injuring two more in a deadly crash on state Route 410 in the fall of 2024, has died.

Due to her death, a King County judge dismissed the case on Dec. 17.

Oster, who also goes by the last names Thomas and Walton-Thomas, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault on Oct. 16.

According to King County Superior Court and police documents, first responders received a call of a three-car crash around 11:28 a.m.

Initial witnesses told the Washington State Patrol that Oster allegedly attempted to pass multiple vehicles while driving west on the highway by merging into the eastbound lane in a no-passing zone.

Another witness added that they were driving at 55 mph when Oster attempted to pass them “going considerably faster,” the police report reads, and that Oster was trying to pass up to eight or ten vehicles.

When a Honda Fit traveling east became visible, Oster attempted to get back into the westbound lane but struck a Subaru that was also going west. This caused the Subaru to rotate into the eastbound lane, where the Honda T-boned into the passenger side.

Jenna Rheuben, Kelly Nakata, and a dog were in the Honda; the two suffered major injuries and had to be flown to Harborview Hospital, and the dog was taken to an emergency vet.

Kim Nordberg and Bette Nordberg, in the Subaru, died before first responders arrived, and two dogs in their vehicle were also transported to an emergency vet.

Oster was uninjured and was arrested at the scene; prosecutors said in charging documents that she was “more concerned with retrieving her vape pen from her vehicle than the state of the victims. She seemed annoyed and dismissive at the scene.”

She allegedly told troopers that the Subaru driver caused the accident by stepping on the breaks when she tried to merge back into the westbound lane; that she wasn’t speeding, “maybe a ‘little tiny bit, but not much’”; that other people told her she was “‘being safe’”; and that she was trying to get off of Dilaudid, an opioid pain medication.

Oster had a history of reckless driving, including being charged with negligent driving in 1995, driving under the influence in 2002 and 2003 (she completed a deferred prosecution program), driving with a suspended license in 2003, reckless driving in 2009, and speeding over 17 mph in 2018.

Oster originally pleaded not guilty during her Oct. 30 arraignment, but her defense team moved to withdraw that plea for the evaluation.

She was diagnosed with an unspecified depressive disorder, but was otherwise declared competent to stand trial and pleaded not guilty; she was eventually released from jail to electronic home monitoring.

Oster was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2025 and release from home confinement on Dec. 4 to go to St. Clare Hospital, where she died a day later.