LYNNWOOD — A gunshot to the neck left a man quadriplegic in August at a car wash near Lynnwood.
One suspect left his driver’s license on the floorboard of the getaway car, a PT Cruiser. He was arrested after a standoff in September.
A suspected gunman also left behind his identity, in the form of DNA, on a cigarette in the ashtray and on a black hoodie stashed close to a home nearby, according to new police reports filed in court.
Detectives believe the same hoodie was caught on camera, worn by Tony Williams, 36. He’s accused of shooting the man at a Brown Bear Car Wash off 164th Street SW early Aug. 5.
Williams’ DNA profile was sitting in a forensic database because he’d served a sentence of 9¼ years in prison for kidnapping, for his role in the notorious murder of Rachel Burkheimer.
In that case, Williams turned up a radio so neighbors couldn’t hear Burkheimer’s screams when she was abducted in September 2002. He grabbed tape from a drawer so another man could bind her face.
Other defendants who took part in the killing — stuffing Burkheimer, 18, in a duffel bag; ordering her to get in a shallow grave near Gold Bar; and shooting her while she pleaded for mercy — are serving life sentences, including John “Diggy” Anderson, the ex-boyfriend who shot her multiple times.
Williams was convicted of kidnapping in 2003. Years later, he’s accused of another shooting with life-altering consequences.
That morning in August, two men — one in camouflage, one in black — approached a driver, 23, of a white sedan at a self-serve car wash station around 1 a.m. Security footage showed the man in black zap the driver with a stun gun. The 23-year-old took the weapon, and the man in black retreated to the PT Cruiser, pulled out a handgun, and fired the shot as the sedan driver hit the gas.
The car crashed. A bullet lodged in the man’s spine. He lost feeling in much of his body. He’ll likely need full-time care for the rest of his life, charging papers say.
Detectives believe he was the victim of a drug ripoff.
Hours later, deputies were tipped off that a black hoodie, sunglasses, gloves and a black Adidas hat were found near a parked PT Cruiser at a random home about two miles from the crime scene.
Williams was arrested for investigation of first-degree assault Dec. 6, when tests for DNA evidence came back as a match to him.
Meanwhile, the suspected driver, Nicholas Naylor, 30, was identified through tips. He reportedly told another man he’d been an “idiot” and left his ID in the car. He was charged with first-degree assault in late August.
Naylor falsely identified an Everett man, 34, as the shooter: “a career criminal,” according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies showed a picture of that Everett man to the paralyzed victim. He reacted with an instant nod of the head, saying he was sure that was the man in black.
Detectives tracked down the man. He told police that he, too, had heard rumors that he was the shooter.
Yet he “stated he does not know or have any connection to the victim and flatly denies any involvement,” Snohomish County detective David Fontenot wrote.
The man yelled that he wanted a polygraph to prove his innocence, and he allowed officers to take his DNA.
The sheriff’s office announced the second man’s arrest in a press release in September. But the DNA didn’t match any evidence. The man was held in jail for 2½ weeks, then released with no charges.
From jail, Naylor held phone calls and video chats with Williams. In one call, he asked Williams to “have a talk” with a witness in the case, court papers say.
A crime lab test of the cigarettes in the PT Cruiser ashtray came back Dec. 4 as a match for two men: Williams and Naylor, according to the new court papers.
Two days later, Williams was booked into jail.
Deputy prosecutor Katie Wetmore noted a .40-caliber handgun and bullets were reportedly found in Williams’ vehicle after his arrest.
As a felon, Williams isn’t allowed to have guns.
At a bail hearing Monday, court-appointed defense attorney Tom Cox argued the evidence against his client was slim.
“At this time,” he said, “the sole thing connecting him to this particular crime is purportedly some DNA on some clothing found in an alley. … If they have other evidence, I haven’t seen it.”
Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui set bail at $1 million.
Cox had asked for a lower amount, noting Williams’ local ties: a wife, children, a construction job, a new home in Lake Stevens.
“Your address?” Cox asked the defendant.
“My wife knows it,” Williams answered. “I’m so rattled by this, I can’t (remember).”
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
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