Everett police arrest a man in a decade-old murder case

EVERETT — A young man was gunned down in south Everett more than a decade ago. On Wednesday, police arrested the person they believe was the shooter.

Jose Luis Gutierrez-Martinez was killed outside of an apartment on W. Casino Road in 2007. He was 24. He and two friends were there to buy marijuana and cocaine, Everett officer Aaron Snell said.

The gunman drove away. The man police suspected in the shooting later denied any involvement.

Martinez was part of the state’s first deck of cold-case playing cards. He was featured on the three of spades. The decks of cards are handed out to jail and prison inmates in hopes of soliciting tips about unsolved homicides and missing persons cases dating back to the 1970s.

Martinez was one of seven people included in the deck who died or went missing near Everett.

A decade after the shooting, detectives believe they have solved the case. Drew Olin, 34, of Everett, was booked Wednesday night into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of second-degree murder. A judge ordered him held on $150,000 bail Thursday.

A woman told police Olin had visited her apartment on June 27, 2007. She lived in the same building where the shooting happened.

She told police Olin, then in his 20s, received a call and grabbed a .22-caliber revolver from under a chair. As he was walking out, she asked why he was bringing a gun. He said he didn’t trust who he was meeting, according to court papers.

It was around 9 p.m. Martinez and his friends walked over to two men sitting on a power box outside and drinking beer.

One of the men collected Martinez’s money and left without giving him the drugs, Snell said. Martinez, who reportedly was holding a screwdriver, demanded his money back.

At this time, the group was standing in a courtyard just outside of the apartment building.

The shooter reportedly pulled a gun and opened fire. Martinez was fatally shot in the chest. A .22-caliber round later was recovered during an autopsy, according to court papers. Martinez’s friend also was struck in the leg.

Olin was a suspect at the time and he was questioned by police. A witness at one point told officers he saw the shooter hold his hand out straight and then he heard gunshots. He didn’t see a gun, but said the other men weren’t armed, according to court papers.

Olin grew up about a mile south of the shooting. His father sought a protection order in 2001 against his son, who was 18 at the time. The teenager reportedly refused to leave the father’s home, grabbed a baseball bat and threatened to slit his father’s throat in his sleep, according to the petition.

A couple of weeks after the shooting, the father reported Olin missing. The young man’s Buick Regal Coupe was abandoned in south Everett, according to court papers. A detective heard he had left for Oregon. He later returned to Everett.

The case was revisited as tips trickled in. It wasn’t until September that someone identified Olin as the gunman, court papers say. The witness reportedly had been walking in the courtyard at the time of the gunfire.

Caitlin Tompkins: 425-339-3192; ctompkins@heraldnet.com.