Police: 3rd suspect arrested in Langus park drug-deal murder

Published 4:11 pm Tuesday, September 8, 2020

EVERETT — What was supposed to be a drug robbery at Langus Riverfront Park last week turned into a homicide, according to allegations described in court papers released Tuesday.

The shooting occurred around 3:15 p.m. Aug. 31. James R. Scannell, 56, of Everett, was shot to death. He was found in the driver’s seat of his Mercury Montego with a gunshot wound to the head.

Police found in his right hand a mix of real and fake money, court papers said. Detectives believe the phony currency was used as a ruse to steal heroin and methamphetamine.

Two of three suspects were arrested over the weekend and booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree murder. The third suspect, who is 26, was arrested in Snohomish Tuesday afternoon and had not yet been booked into jail, Everett police officer Aaron Snell said.

Witnesses described seeing two men run from Scannell’s car to a red Ford Escape parked nearby on the afternoon of the shooting.

Video footage from Dagmar’s Marina helped police track down the Ford Escape’s owner, who allegedly acknowledged driving the other two men to and from the park. He is described in court papers as a 42-year-old man living in Tulalip. He described hearing a gunshot before the other men returned to his car. He allegedly admitted knowing that at least one of the men was armed and to serving as a lookout. After the shooting, he reportedly hid his Ford at a nearby apartment complex, where it was impounded by a tow company and eventually searched by police.

The alleged gunman is 29 and from Camano Island, according to court papers. He allegedly told the Tulalip man that he intended to “pistol whip” Scannell but ended up shooting him in the head. The Camano Island man was being held on $1 million bail Tuesday.

He reportedly led sheriff’s deputies from Island and Snohomish counties, as well as Washington State Patrol troopers, on a pursuit Saturday night before being arrested.

Eric Stevick: stevick@ heraldnet.com.