Barking dog dispute may be linked to Marysville killing

Published 1:08 pm Tuesday, June 2, 2009

MARYSVILLE — A dispute over a barking dog may have played a role in the death of a 70-year-old Marysville woman this morning.

The killing is being investigated by major crimes detectives from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

A 33-year-old Arlington man has been arrested. The man’s mother, a next-door neighbor of the victim, called police around 9:35 a.m. to report the death at a home in the 5100 block of 109th Place NE, sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

A sheriff’s deputy found the woman dead with “an injury to the neck,” Hover said. Detectives this afternoon were waiting for a search warrant to enter the dead woman’s home. Her identity has not been released. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner plans an autopsy.

Monday night, deputies were called to the victim’s home about a dispute over a barking dog, Hover said.

“They felt they had resolved that,” Hover said.

The suspect had been visiting his parent’s home Monday night. Officials do not believe he was involved in last night’s dispute over the dog but they are investigating whether the incident played a role.

The victim lived by herself with a German shepherd and two cats. The animals were expected to be picked up by county animal control officials today.

Many people living in the neighborhood turned reporters away this afternoon. They were busy grappling with violence so close to home.

John Fuller, a neighbor, said he met the victim at a block party last summer.

“She was a nice woman. That’s all I know,” he said.