Charge: Slain landlord told Everett man his lease was ending

In various stories, Frank Walton denied killing the Mukilteo man. Detectives believe he hid the body miles away.

EVERETT — An Everett man told police that the deadly beating of his landlord last month took place in his rented apartment. But he claimed the killing was done by two random intruders who burst in, then tried to force the victim into the tenant’s car, according to charges filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.

In reality, detectives believe Frank Walton killed the landlord, Howard Paul Benzel, 67, of Mukilteo, after being told his lease would not be renewed at an apartment in the 2100 block of Madison Street.

A couple in Skagit County found Benzel’s remains two days later, over 30 miles away, about a mile north of Lake McMurray.

A neighbor’s security camera captured a banging sound around 4:10 p.m. on March 28. About a half-hour later, Benzel’s wife called 911. He had been working at their mixed-use building in south Everett but was supposed to have come home hours before. She had gone to the complex and seen Benzel’s truck and cellphone, but no sign of him. She reported seeing Walton — who she knew didn’t get along well with Benzel — wiping up blood from the sidewalk and carrying a bag to a purplish Buick.

Police went into the apartment, fearing Benzel might be hurt and still be inside, but he was not there. Instead they noted a Tulalip Casino players card belonging to Walton, 40, who had been going by his first and middle names, Frank Edmund.

Officers tracked down the tenant around 8 p.m. at a friend’s apartment complex in Marysville. In a story that “changed frequently and often did not (make) sense,” he told police that day he’d been at his apartment, an Everett storage unit and the Marysville apartment. He owned a Ford SUV but hadn’t used it all that day, according to his report. Police asked about the purplish Buick. He reported that he had just bought the car and had taken it on “one run” earlier. He also acknowledged he’d argued with the landlord hours before at his apartment but denied any kind of physical altercation.

Outside the Marysville apartment, in a dumpster, police found rags that smelled like chemicals, as well as cleaning supplies, packaging materials, a banner and thick rubber floor mats — all of which had blood on them.

According to the charges, Walton later agreed to a recorded interview. He told police he’d lied about several things in his first interview and couldn’t explain why. Detectives asked him about evidence in the dumpster.

“I was in fear for my life,” he reportedly replied.

He claimed two men “who appeared to be cartel members” broke into his apartment, along with the victim. There, he reported, they punched the landlord in the head, flashed guns and told Walton to mind his own business.

“The defendant could not provide a reason why they would have taken the victim or entered the unit,” according to the charges.

In Walton’s account, the intruders told him to clean up everything, and that’s why he disposed of the evidence.

In explaining why there was blood in his car, he said the men slammed Benzel’s head into his Buick in an apparent attempt to get him into a wide-open door of the car. He clarified that he was assuming that happened, because he didn’t actually go outside to witness it. He maintained that he didn’t harm Benzel at all, and that he did not act in self-defense.

On March 30, the human remains, wrapped in plastic, were recovered in Skagit County. An autopsy found Benzel died of blunt-force trauma to much of his body and that he’d been struck many times with a weapon — a hammer or something similar.

In the meantime, a bag of bloody clothes was recovered from Walton’s home.

An employee of Conway Elementary School found security footage of a purplish Buick heading east on Highway 534 around 5:15 p.m. March 28, about six miles from the spot where the body was later recovered.

At his arraignment last week, Superior Court Judge Marybeth Dingledy set Walton’s bail at $1 million. He remained behind bars, charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Walton has ties to Chicago and Milwaukee, where court records show he’d been convicted of misdemeanors but no felonies.

In an obituary, Benzel’s family remembered him as “a dedicated husband, grandfather and father of two, salesman (a good one), golfer, angler, questionable driver, handyman, jokester, and consummate host to family and friends.”

At the end of the day, his obituary said, he liked to drink a cocktail “and watch our beloved but beleaguered Mariners go down by four in the bottom of the third. … These moments were just as important as any of the many nagging chores that wouldn’t fix themselves. There was always tomorrow.”

Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Dominic Wilson looks at his mother while she addresses the court during his sentencing at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Grief remains after sentencing of Marysville teen’s killers

Dominic Wilson must serve 17½ years in prison, while his accomplice Morzae Roberts was given a sentence of four years.

The Washington State University Everett campus on Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
WSU ends search to buy land for future branch campus in Everett

The university had $10M to spend. It tried for four years but couldn’t close deals with Everett’s housing authority or the city.

Former Opus Bank/Cascade Bank building in downtown Everett on Thursday, March 16, 2023 in Everett, Washington. It is proposed as the new home of Economic Alliance Snohomish County. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Economic Alliance asks Everett for $300K to move downtown

The countywide chamber of commerce and economic development organization also would reform the Everett chamber.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Mountlake Terrace in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Mountlake Terrace leaders weighing federal ARPA fund options

Bathrooms, body cameras, generators, radios, roadwork, roof replacement, sidewalks, trails and more loom for the $4.5 million.

Vehicles on Soper Hill Road wait in line to make unprotected left turns onto Highway 9 northbound and southbound during the evening commute Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Lake Stevens development prompts Highway 9 signal change soon

Turning left from Soper Hill Road can be a long wait now. Flashing yellow turn signals could help with more traffic.

The Walmart Store on 11400 Highway 99 on March 21, 2023 in in Everett, Washington. The retail giant will close the store on April 21, 2023. (Janice Podsada / The Herald)
Walmart announces Everett store on Highway 99 will close on April 21.

The Arkansas-based retail giant said the 20-year-old Walmart location was “underperforming financially.”

Michael Tolley (Northshore School District)
Michael Tolley named new Northshore School District leader

Tolley, interim superintendent since last summer, is expected to inherit the position permanently in July.

The drugs seized from a Clorox box and an air mattress box in the car of a courier in November 2020. (U.S. Attorney's Office)
Relatives of Arlington fentanyl, meth ringleader get federal prison

Jose Arredondo-Valdez, the cousin of Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, got nine years Tuesday. Valdez-Sanudo’s wife got four.

NO CAPTION NECESSARY: Logo for the Cornfield Report by Jerry Cornfield. 20200112
Building ballparks, rewriting ferry rules, recognizing Chinese-Americans

It’s Day 71. Here’s what’s happening in the 2023 session of the Washington Legislature

Most Read