An artist who "used his own blood as ink" is now cops' main suspect in the murder of Shannon Harps.

The 29-year-old man was picked up three days after the murder on a parole violation--being drunk on New Year's Eve, the night Harps was murdered.

Cops haven't charged him with anything. They interviewed him the night he was arrested because, according to the P-I, a tipster said he "had made statements about the case in the days following the killing." The Times says it was because he resembled a police sketch of the "person-of-interest", and are waiting for the results of a DNA test to see if he's a match with hair or whatever that the murderer apparently lost at the scene.

The P-I has the guy's name, but won't say who he is--they don't name suspects until they are charged. They will say this:

The man, who has a history of drug abuse and violent assaults on women, has made several threats to kill people, is an artist who used his own blood as ink, and once attacked a bouncer with a box cutter, according to court documents.

The suspect is in Monroe Correctional Facility for now, awaiting a mental health assessment that we'd imagine is not shooting to the top of anyone's schedule anytime soon.

If you want to read more about Shannon Harps, or donate money in memoriam, the Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club, where she worked, set up a memorial page.