EVERETT – Two Tacoma men have been arrested for investigation of murder in the July shooting deaths of two people inside a south Everett house where an elaborate marijuana-growing operation was found.
Everett homicide detectives acting on a tip they received Wednesday tracked a man to Tacoma. Detectives spoke with him and he led investigators to a second man, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.
Both men were booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder.
Kevin Meas, 23, and Linda Nguyen, 20, were both shot in the head July 2 inside a house in the 600 block of Dexter Avenue. Police found 800 marijuana plants inside.
During their investigation police also found 400 plants in a nearby house in the 200 block of E. Beech Street. People at that home knew the shooting victims
The owners of that house, Thuy Thi Ngoc Nguyen and John Hien Nguyen, have been charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle with conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. They could face more than 10 years in prison. Hai Chi Nguyen, who lived at the Beech Street house, has been charged with manufacturing marijuana.
Hai Chi Nguyen told investigators he was paid $4,000 to take care of the plants and harvest the crop, according to court papers. He is the brother of the woman who was fatally shot.
The pot-growing operations could have produced ten of thousands of dollars in marijuana if they’d been harvested, drug detectives say.
Investigators believe other people were involved in the indoor pot farms and they expect to make additional arrests.
A tip from someone in May about a marijuana growing operation in Seattle led investigators to the two Everett houses in June, according to court records. The killings occurred about a month later.
Detectives here said the federal Drug Enforcement Administration were in the fledgling stages of investigating the Everett pot operations when the killings occurred.
Hai Chi Nguyen told investigators that on July 2, John Hein Nguyen received a phone call from Thuy Thi Ngoc Nguyen. She told him that something happened at the house on Dexter Avenue and Linda Nguyen “is shot on the ground,” records show.
The two men found the woman just inside the front door. They loaded her up in a car and drove to the house on Beech Street. Hai Chi Nguyen and his girlfriend later tried to drive his wounded sister to the hospital but called 911 when they became lost. Police arrived to find that Linda Nguyen had been shot twice in the head.
Detectives searched the house where she was found and discovered Meas, the second victim, in the basement.
Police have said that Meas and Linda Nguyen lived in the house on Dexter Avenue. Information about their connection has not been released.
Investigators are seeing a growing trend of sophisticated indoor growing operations that are being run by people with ties to Southeast Asia. They are organized groups that are growing and distributing high-quality marijuana in the area.
Investigators don’t believe the Everett operations are connected to people who are indicted under a separate case involving a south King County garden distribution center.
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