Results tagged “murder”

Around 6:30 a.m. this morning a jogger discovered a male in his mid-20s lying lifeless on the sidewalk outside the Extended StayAmerica hotel in the 13300 block of Stone Avenue North. Police responded to the scene shortly thereafter, only to discover the young man had been shot and killed. Homicide detectives are still investigating.

Yesterday, a Seattle police SWAT team arrested a 17-year-old male in a Ballard home on the 900 block of NW 60th Street, who they are "pretty confident" is the gunman in Sunday's Pit Stop Express (15th Ave. NW and NW 58th St.) robbery and murder. The juvenile--whose name will not be released--was booked into the Youth Service Center while being investigated for the murder of 28-year-old convenience store clerk Manish Melwani of Lynnwood.

Adding to this week's lamentable streak of violence, we woke up to find a report from Seattle 911 that a man had been killed in a hit-and-run accident last night near Cherry and Sixth in Downtown. The body was found just past midnight. According to the SPD Blotter, there are no witnesses at this point, but "officers observed a security camera on the east side of the Seattle Metropolitan Tower that might cover the intersection."

• Delicious pix of the last time Seattle had rail over at Vintage Seattle.
Continue reading "Neighborhood News And Local Blog Round-Up"

If you see this man, call the police. At right is the official police sketch of the suspect wanted in connection with the brutal Sunday assault of two women in South Park.

• The biggest story in town this weekend? Light rail, hands down, and we have plenty on it. Then again, we're just a drop in the bucket of 92,000.
• Well-known and well-respected Seattle sound engineer Tom Pfaeffle got shot by a nut-job. Comforting. At least it was all the way out in Twisp.

King County Superior Court's Judge Palmer Robinson sentenced James A. Williams to a 35-year sentence for the slaying of 31-year-old Shannon Harps on Capitol Hill, on New Year's Eve 2007. "Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last week rather than proceed to trial and, conceivably, mount an insanity defense," reports the P-I, which earlier took an in-depth look at how a known paranoid schizophrenic with a long history of violence and assault was walking around Capitol Hill. In 2006, the cost of prison incarceration in Washington was $26,736. At 35 years, that's $935,760. Mental health care in Washington was cut nine percent in the proposed 2009-11 budget.

In one of the more horrifying local news items of last year, a garden-loving 60-year-old man was beaten to death at a traffic circle in Rainier Beach. The assaulter, Brian Keith Brown, just pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder charge brought against him and will now face sentencing in May. He's probably looking at between eight and eleven years in prison. Last summer he pled not guilty, so the case against him must have been looking particularly strong. We're not shedding any tears for this guy, though.

It's probably too late at night to be writing this sort of piece, but sitting around a lonely house, sipping a glass of Scotch and trying to forget about our more quotidian problems, we found ourselves reading today's (or yesterday's, we suppose) article about the ongoing Amanda Knox trial. In the piece, AP reporter Alessandra Rizzo goes on at length about how Knox didn't seem to show any remorse in the police station following her roommate Meredith Kercher's murder. She quotes three prosecution witnesses (all friends of the victim, apparently), who testified that, "Everybody was upset and she didn't seem to show any emotions," or that she "'made faces,' such as crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out. She was 'giggling' and kissing [then-boyfriend and co-defendant Raffaele] Sollecito," and finally that, "She didn't show any sadness. She wasn't crying. She seemed quite angry and a bit frustrated and sometimes happy."

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OPENINGS: Athol Fugard's at Stone Soup (Fri. & Sat. 7:30 p.m., tix $15/$10) is a rock n' roll adaptation of a classic.

According to a brief post we caught over at "The Blotter," the 's comically named crime blog, friends of Amanda Knox, the UW student accused of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007, have taken to the web.

According to the electronic edition of the we get in our inboxes each morning, Seattle's most famous exchange student has finally gotten to trial in Perugia, Italy. Amanda Knox, the UW student accused of taking part in the sado-sexual murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007, has been an obsession of the British and Italian (and Seattle, to a lesser degree) media, as the article attests to:

Carlos Bernadez has been charged with murder in the first degree for his direct involvement with the Chop Suey shooting last weekend. Bernadez was the man police allege opened fire from the side door of the venue, killing one and injuring two others. Roger Allen LaBranche, the first man to be arrested in conjunction with the night's events, has been charged with assault and drug-dealing. As the investigation unfolds, LaBranche may be charged with something more serious; for now, this charge allows the county to keep him as a suspect for accomplice in the murder of 29-E while they continue to clarify what exactly happened to lead up to Saturday night's violence.

Darold Ray Stenson, convicted of murdering his wife and his business partner back in 1994, was finally given his execution date--December 3rd--after over a decade of a stayed sentence. That's a week from tomorrow, but now the Roman Catholic Church has stepped in to ask governor Gregoire if she will give Stenson life without parole instead of allowing the state to go through with the execution. We do not envy Gregoire this decision in the least; though Stenson has been found guilty by the courts, the death penalty is one of those punishments that simply cannot be undone.

When we heard about the murder of the Tuba Man, Ed McMichael, we were really shaken by it. We've been heartened, though, by the outpouring of emotion from people everywhere; the Seattle Times says that "about 150 people gathered Saturday morning at Seattle Center for an informal musical memorial to the Tuba Man," and another public memorial has been set for this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Qwest Field (800 Occidental Ave S.) Local radio's Robin & Maynard and Art Thiel and Ken Schram are attending, and "the wearing of funny hats in tribute to Ed McMichael is encouraged." In addition, there's a memorial fund to help pay for McMichael's plot, grave marker and funeral expenses. Donations can be made to the Edward "Tuba Man" McMichael Memorial Fund, in person at a Bank of America branch, or by sending a check to the fund at P.O. Box 4985, Federal Way, WA 98063. (H/t to Seattle Metblogs)

In the midst of the Election Day 2008 hullabaloo, we want to take a second to remember Seattle's Tuba Man, Edward McMichael. Robert Jamieson, who did this terrific interview with McMichael last year, brought the horrible news of Tuba Man's death:

On Oct. 25, police say, McMichael, 53, was near a bus stop in the 500 block of Mercer Street when thugs attacked, beating and robbing him after midnight. He was taken to the hospital for head wounds and was home recovering. But he died sometime Sunday or early Monday.

After waiting a year, hometown girl Amanda Knox and her defense team got bad news today. Judge Paolo Micheli indicted Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito in the murder of Meredith Kercher, and the trial will start December 4. Further, the Seattle Times tells us, "A third suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede of Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 30 years in jail after his defense requested a fast-track trial, said the lawyer for the victim's family Francesco Maresca." That would seem to a) indicate the judge found the prosecution's story compelling, and b) provide compelling reason why you should never, never ask to have your trial fast-tracked.

Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden were murdered two years ago while on a summer day hike. For two years the chilling case has remained unsolved, with no arrests ever made--leaving the victims' family and all of us local hikers at a loss for closure. In hopes of solving the cold case, Seattle-based Investigative Films is working on a documentary film about the murders. The documentary appears to have the blessing and cooperation of Cooper's and Stodden's family. On Monday, Dave Stodden hiked to the site of his wife and daughter's murder as part of the filming.

It may not be The Sopranos, but the story of a body dump in broad daylight in South Seattle yesterday is becoming increasingly strange. Police arrested and booked a suspect this morning and the suspect is now under investigation for murder. The victim was a white man in his 60s who appeared to have medical or surgical instruments and tubes still attached to his body. Some reports say he also had a belt around his neck at the time of the body dump. Whichever detail is true, it adds an extra element of creepiness and shudders to the story.

It's an honest question. Last week when we read and reported the story of James Paroline who was killed by a single punch, we were slightly stunned that the effects of a punch could kill a man. So much so that we assumed it was likely a very rare occurrence and a tragic case where the most imperfect circumstances lined up. However, tonight while browsing the local news we spotted the following headline: "Modified Guilty Plea in Punching Death in Monroe".

Brian Keith Brown, the man suspected of killing a Rainier Beach gardener with a single punch, turned himself into the Seattle Police this morning. Police charged Brown on Monday and released his photo and name to the public. He's been placed under arrest and is facing charges of second-degree murder. His first arraignment is scheduled for July 28th. Considering the mob-style outrage regarding this senseless story, jail is probably the safest place for Brown right now...and is certainly where he belongs.

Yesterday Seattlest reported on the beating of a man tending to his neighborhood traffic circle. And it is with great sadness and a general feeling of What the Fuck? that we report that the victim in this senseless beating, James Paroline has died from his injuries.

Remember in the Mission: Impossible movies, when Tom Cruise is given messages that self-destruct into a puff of smoke after he memorizes them? Normal text messages should have that feature. This ill-fated Snohomish County couple is likely to agree with Seattlest: the P-I reports that during a homicide investigation, police investigators checked out the twosome's text message histories and found incriminating evidence that led to first-degree murder charges against them.

While the rest of the world was glued to soccer shoot-outs on the field, Lakewood, Wash., police were investigating the deaths of two men from a soccer related shoot-out off field. While the names of the victims have yet to be released, KOMO News is reporting two young men were killed after a soccer dispute escalated into gunfire on Saturday night. Police have said that one of them was an innocent bystander, and another bystander was injured by an errant bullet. Two gunmen were involved in the shooting—one is in the morgue and the other remains at large. Lakewood police did detain and question a suspect about the shooting, but he has since been cleared of involvement and released.

Perugia's lead prosecutor in the case against Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito says the three suspects will shortly be charged in Meredith Kercher's death. All three stand to be indicted not only with participating in the crime, but also its cover-up. If convicted, Knox and company could be spending upwards of 20 years in an Italian jail cell.

Italian officials have concluded their investigation into the death of UK exchange student Meredith Kercher. Per Italian law, the prosecution informed the defense yesterday of their final findings--that they believe Kercher was murdered by Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito, and Rudy Hermann Guede. Prosecutors contend that the three strangled and stabbed the 21-year-old exchange student to death and that Guede sexually assaulted her, with the help of Knox and Sollecito.

Obviously, Sione Lui does not watch as much Law & Order, CSI, or Cold Case as Seattlest does. The 38-year-old was convicted today of the 2001 murder of his fiance Elaine Boussiacos. The evidence that broke this cold case wide open? Detectives noticed that Lui had given his current wife the "missing" engagement ring he'd bought for his deceased fiance. Since TV does not lie, we believe this is how it all went down: