EVERETT — A transient has been arrested for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of a homeless man found in an Everett swamp April 7.
James Daniel Archer, 46, is accused of beating his victim, forcing him to strip and tying him to a tree. Daniel A. Webster, 54, died from homicidal violence that included asphyxiation, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Archer was arrested Thursday.
Both the victim and the suspect have criminal records that include felonies.
Webster’s body was found partially submerged in marshy area near a homeless camp. The area is along Eclipse Mill Road between I-5 and the railroad tracks.
Webster had been stuffed into a sleeping bag that was tied up. He’d been gagged with a pair of underwear in his mouth with a bungee cord wrapped around his neck.
Archer allegedly confessed. He reportedly claimed that Webster had stolen $300 from Archer’s girlfriend’s tent in the middle of the night.
Archer reportedly caught up with Webster on a trail and, during an altercation, hit him with a hard object several times. Archer’s girlfriend, who did not witness the confrontation, said she saw him leave with a piece of metal and a hammer, according to court documents.
“Mr. Archer said that he believed Mr. Webster had been hit hard enough that it scared him and made him comply with the demands that he gave him after that,” Everett police wrote in a report used to establish probable cause for the arrest.
Archer allegedly told police he made Webster take off his clothing so he could search it for the missing money. Because he felt Webster was being too loud, he made him put a pair of underwear in his mouth to keep him quiet. He told police he then wrapped the cord around his neck to keep the underwear in place. He bound his hands and tied him to a tree, police said.
“While trying to figure out what to do, he realized that Mr. Webster was no longer alive,” police wrote.
That’s when Archer admitted he panicked. He reportedly rolled Webster down the hillside against a fence and hid him there for a few days.
Later, he reportedly placed Webster into a sleeping bag and dumped his body into the swamp. He told police he thought the water was deeper than it actually was.
Archer’s girlfriend said she initially had been hesitant to volunteer information because he had threatened her, a grandchild and her dog.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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