Police turn to third suspect in burglaries

Published 10:45 pm Saturday, July 5, 2008

LYNNWOOD — A serial burglar shattered the comfort of home and left many Lynnwood women scared to go to sleep.

He first showed up in 2005, lurking in a woman’s bedroom. He’s since hit more than a dozen times.

So far, police have accused three different young men of being the person who has been slipping into houses, sneaking into beds and terrorizing women and children.

And that’s creating problems.

The first, a 16-year-old boy, was sent to detention in 2005 after he confessed to two burglaries. He was freed after forensic evidence cleared him of the crimes.

The second, Lamar Anderson, 20, a year later was named as a suspect in the break-ins. He pleaded guilty to a burglary in the same neighborhood but was not connected to the burglary series.

The third, Joseph Habte-Egzy, 19, was arrested in April. Police caught him hiding in bushes near the house where a 10-year-old year girl awoke to find a stranger in her bedroom. The man shoved his fingers in her mouth to stifle her screams.

Police say Habte-Egzy confessed to the break-in and led detectives on a tour of at least 10 other houses he claimed to have burglarized since 2005, court documents show. That includes the two burglaries the 16-year-old went to detention for three years ago.

‘We’re convinced it’s him’

Habte-Egzy’s attorney, Mark Mestel of Everett, said the history of Lynnwood’s investigation leaves doubt and more must be done to make sure police have the right person this time.

A boy was wrongfully convicted because evidence wasn’t tested before the case moved along in court, Mestel said. His client, a former Meadowdale High School student, is now accused of those same 2005 burglaries and three others.

Mestel wants to see genetic evidence and fingerprints from the break-ins compared against samples from Habte-Egzy. His client deserves to have the results before he heads to trial or is forced to make any legal decisions, he said.

Prosecutors told Mestel they plan to charge Habte-Egzy with at least 10 other burglaries from the Lynnwood series if the teen doesn’t plead guilty to the five original charges, according to court documents. They also recently agreed to send the genetic material and dozens of other pieces of forensic evidence to a private lab in California for testing.

The state crime lab will compare Habte-Egzy’s DNA to the samples that were used to clear the boy whose conviction was later thrown out, as well as a sample the serial burglar left on a window screen, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Laura Twitchell said.

The state lab previously had not planned to test all the evidence in the case because there was too much to test, and they already had a backlog of rape and murder cases the lab considers higher priority, she said.

More than physical evidence links Habte-Egzy to the burglaries, Twitchell said. The Lynnwood teen not only confessed but led police on a tour of the homes he is accused of burglarizing, she said. He described the break-ins in detail and his descriptions matched those given by the victims, Twitchell said.

“We’re convinced it’s him,” she said.

The initial suspect

Police and prosecutors were once convinced the 16-year-old boy was responsible for two unusual burglaries in 2005. An eyewitness chose him in a line-up and he confessed.

The first burglary happened in October 2005. A woman found someone hovering over her bed. The stranger shoved her in the face and ran off.

Investigators found what they believed to be evidence left by the suspect — a hair stuck to duct tape and a palm print on a sliding glass door.

A month later, another woman was tackled by a stranger who had knocked on her front door early one morning. She described her attacker and police came up with a sketch.

Lynnwood police began investigating the 16-year-old, who lived in the neighborhood, after an officer said he thought the teen resembled the sketch. The victim identified the teen as her attacker when police showed her a photograph of the boy as part of a montage lineup.

The teen initially denied breaking into the houses. A few hours later his story changed, court records show.

As he was being moved from the jail, another Lynnwood patrol officer asked to speak with the teen. The officer told detectives he had “great rapport” with the suspect. He’d stopped the teen in May 2005, five months before the rash of burglaries began, and arrested him when he found him carrying a chisel wrapped in a ski mask.

He interviewed the boy before they left the Lynnwood jail. The officer later told detectives the teen had confessed to him that he’d broken into the two houses. The boy’s written confession said he did that “for the thrill.” That’s the same phrase he used when he confessed to carrying the chisel and ski mask, tools he planned to use to break into cars, according to court records.

Prosecutors charged the teen with one count of residential burglary with sexual motivation in connection with the burglaries in October and November 2005. They threatened to tack on additional crimes and have the case moved to adult court. The boy pleaded guilty in December 2005 in juvenile court. Prosecutors sought a sentence beyond the standard range. The teen was ordered to spend a year in a juvenile detention facility.

Detectives continued to investigate the case even after the boy was jailed, Lynnwood Cmdr. Steve Rider said. They heard rumors the teen was telling people he’d lied about breaking into the houses. Besides, somebody was still breaking into homes and accosting women and girls.

Attacks continue

Within weeks of the boy’s arrest, two other victims, including a teenage girl, reported similar attacks in their homes while they slept. One happened days after the boy was charged. The other occurred a day after he pleaded guilty. He was in custody during both.

Lynnwood police sent a polygraph examiner to talk with the boy. They also collected a sample of the teen’s DNA to compare it to the genetic evidence left on duct tape at one of the break-ins he had claimed responsibility for.

It was about doing the right thing, Rider said.

“Despite (the teen’s) actions, his confession and pleading guilty, we still did our job to investigate and find the truth,” Rider said. “We never quit investigating just because someone’s in custody, because we want the truth.”

The polygraph and DNA testing concluded the teen wasn’t the burglar. Police and prosecutors moved quickly for his release. His conviction was vacated in February 2006, after the boy spent about two months behind bars.

The second suspect

Then another burglary happened.

A woman awoke to her dog barking. She found a man standing in her house. He pushed her down on her bed and pinned her with his legs. She fought back and he ran off.

He looked familiar, the woman said. She described him to her children, who identified him as someone they’d seen at a party earlier that night. Police quickly found Lamar Anderson. He allegedly admitted he broke into the woman’s house. He couldn’t tell them why he was there, only that he’d been drinking.

Anderson was charged with first-degree burglary. Prosecutors publicly identified him as a suspect in the other burglaries, and said the suspicion warranted high bail.

Anderson matched the description of the serial burglar, and was in the same neighborhood, Rider said.

“The crime was so strikingly similar we had to consider him a suspect. We’d be remiss if we didn’t investigate him,” Rider said.

Anderson pleaded guilty to the April 2006 burglary. That is one case Habte-Egzy has not been linked to in court papers.

With Habte-Egzy’s case still being readied for trial later this year, Lynnwood police say they can’t talk about his arrest or the evidence. Detectives continue to investigate because it matters that the right person is behind bars, Rider said.

“We don’t use people as scapegoats to solve unsolved crimes,” he said.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.

Chain of events

2005

Oct. 23: A Lynnwood woman awakes to find a stranger standing over her bed.

Nov. 13: A woman answers her front door and is knocked to the floor by an intruder

Nov. 19: A Lynnwood police officer tells detectives a sketch of the suspect resembles a 16-year-old boy who lives in the neighborhood. Police learn the boy was charged with having burglary tools in May 2005.

Nov. 21: A woman picks a photograph of the boy out of six others. She identifies him as her attacker.

Nov. 22: The teen is arrested and confesses to the break-ins. He is charged a week later.

Dec. 2: A 15-year-old Lynnwood girl awakes to find a young man standing over her bed.

Dec. 23: The boy arrested in November pleads guilty to one count of burglary with sexual motivation. He is sentenced to a year in a juvenile prison.

Dec. 24: A woman wakes up to someone pulling the bedsheets off her and jumping on top of her. She fights him off.

2006

Jan. 27: Lynnwood police give the 16-year-old who confessed earlier a polygraph. Results indicate he didn’t commit the burglaries. They take a DNA sample from the boy and compare it to evidence collected at the break-ins. It is not a match.

Feb. 3: Prosecutors vacate the charge against the boy.

April 30: A Lynnwood woman finds a man standing in her house. He grabs her and pins her to the bed. She fights him off. Detectives later arrest Lamar Anderson, 20. He is named in court papers as a suspect in the now-unsolved burglary string.

June 21: Anderson pleads guilty to the April break-in. Prosecutors agree not to file any other charges against him.

2008

April 20: A 10-year-old girl awakens to something tickling her neck. She sees a man sitting cross legged behind her on her bed. She fights him off. The suspect is confronted by the girl’s father who pins him against a wall. The young man breaks free and runs. Police arrest Joseph Habte-Egzy, 19, after finding him in some bushes near the house. The girl’s father identifies Habte-Egzy was the intruder. Habte-Egzy leads police on a tour of at least 10 different homes he has burglarized since 2005.