A 37-year-old Kenmore man allegedly threatened violence against his girlfriend the day before kidnapping her from the Tulalip Resort Casino and leading police on a high-speed chase that ended near Lynnwood when he collided head-on with another car, killing an 83-year-old woman, court records say.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the man was driving a stolen GMC Sierra pickup south in the northbound lanes of traffic on Highway 525 when he crashed into a GMC Yukon SUV on April 11.
The driver of the GMC Yukon, Trudy Slanger of Lynnwood, died at the scene, Washington State Patrol said.
The suspect was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he was treated for a broken ankle. His girlfriend, 34, was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett with a broken foot, the affidavit states.
After his release from the hospital, the man was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of several counts, including first-degree murder, first-degree domestic violence kidnapping, vehicular assault and attempting to elude.
On Wednesday, an Everett District Court judge set his bail at $2 million.
The suspect’s girlfriend told police at the hospital that she and the man had been dating for about a year. She went to his Everett home April 10 to say goodbye before she left for substance use treatment. According to the affidavit, the man “snapped” and threw a metal canister at her arm, the woman told police.
He then allegedly took the woman’s phone and texted one of her friends, “I broke her arm … I’m beating her alive … I’m going to skin her alive,” and “I’m coming for you next,” the affidavit states.
The friend called Monroe police, who tracked the girlfriend’s phone to the Everett home. When officers arrived, the suspect allegedly jumped out of a window and escaped in what police suspected was a “pre-staged” vehicle, court records say.
The next day, Tulalip Tribal Police told the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office that the man had entered the Tulalip Resort Casino at about noon, punched a woman in the forehead and forced another woman — later identified as his girlfriend — into a black GMC pickup that had been reported stolen from Bothell about three weeks prior, according to the affidavit.
Police spotted the truck driving later that afternoon in the Everett area and saw someone throw a cellphone out of the car window. Detectives confirmed the suspect was the driver and his girlfriend was the passenger, court records show.
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office deputies pursued the truck with their emergency lights and sirens after seeing it north of Lynnwood. The deputies chased the suspect until he allegedly drove over a grassy median and sped off, heading south in the northbound lanes of Highway 525, where police ended the pursuit, according to the affidavit.
The man allegedly swerved twice to avoid oncoming cars before colliding with Slanger’s SUV, less than one minute after police stopped chasing him, court records say.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office had previously issued a warrant for the man’s arrest for first-degree assault with a firearm after he allegedly made a comment about a group of people’s specific race and fired a gun at them, the affidavit states.