SHORELINE, Wash. — The Shoreline Police Department (SPD) arrested a murder suspect on Sunday morning after finding a woman inside an apartment dead from an apparent severe head injury.
The suspect, who turns 41 on Tuesday, called 911 around 7:20 a.m. to report that he had killed the woman. Shoreline officers responded to the scene, which was located in the 17000 block of Linden Avenue N.
They found the suspect in the parking lot of an apartment complex and saw that he had blood on him. They then found the female victim deceased inside an apartment and located an axe and bolt cutters covered in blood, officers said.
The King County Medical Examiner's office identified the victim as 32-year-old Randee Rios of Shoreline, and confirmed that she died from multiple blunt force trauma and puncture wounds.
The suspect was taken into custody and booked into King County Jail for investigation of the murder. He admitted to the detectives that he had killed the female and had planned it out.
During his first court appearance, prosecutors argued that the suspect be held on $5 million bail with probable cause for murder in the first degree with a domestic violence component. They argued that the high bail amount was justified due to the “extreme violence and cruelty” in the murder and because the suspect admitted to planning it.
They also argued that the suspect was unlikely to return to court if released on bail due to his history of 11 warrants, including three active warrants, one of which is for a misdemeanor assault.
A judge agreed with the prosecutors and set bail at $5 million.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office said it expects to receive the documents required for a charging decision by the end of this week.
A friend of the victim's family has set up a fundraising page for memorial and funeral expenses.
