Closing arguments expected Friday in murder trial of Bothell man

Published 6:45 pm Thursday, January 29, 2015

EVERETT — A Bothell man on trial for the killing of his estranged wife opted not to testify before both sides rested Thursday.

Lawyers were expected to make closing arguments Friday before Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Linda Krese. Alan Smith decided to leave the verdict up to the judge, forgoing a jury. Smith is charged with first-degree murder for the February 2013 killing. Susann Smith, 37, suffered nearly two dozen blows and stab wounds. She was dragged into the bathroom of her Bothell home and submerged face down in a filled bathtub where she drowned.

Smith’s attorneys Thursday asked the judge to dismiss the charge, saying prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence proving that the killing was premeditated. Krese declined to grant the motion.

Smith left his wife and filed for divorce in 2011. Prosecutors allege that the former Boeing engineer ambushed her because he was unhappy he had to pay child support and feared that Susann Smith was going to return to Germany with their children.

The defendant allegedly confessed to the slaying months later to a man he met at a church.