EVERETT — Jurors won’t hear that a Bothell man accused of killing his estranged wife was called “Creepy Alan” by some of his coworkers at Boeing.
Lawyers for Alan Smith, 39, asked a judge Thursday to prohibit any witness from testifying that they considered Smith a strange or socially awkward person. Prosecutors said they weren’t planning to elicit those kinds of descriptions from witnesses.
Smith is scheduled to go on trial next month. He is accused of beating his estranged wife, Susann Smith, 37, and drowning her in a bathtub inside her Bothell house in February 2013.
Prosecutors allege that Alan Smith meticulously planned the killing and took steps to cover up his involvement. He is charged with first-degree murder.
Smith allegedly admitted to an acquaintance that he killed his wife. Prosecutors say Smith’s DNA was found on a washcloth under his wife’s body in the bathtub. Bloody footprints at the scene also allegedly matched the defendant.
The Smiths were getting divorced and battling for custody of their two young children. Susann Smith’s body was discovered after she didn’t show up for work. Alan Smith was arrested four months later.
The case drew widespread attention in part because of some odd behavior by Smith’s then-girlfriend, Love Thai.
She posted photographs and videos to Facebook, documenting developments in the case, including Smith’s arrest. She and Smith did an interview with a Seattle television station prior to the arrest. Thai said in the interview that her boyfriend might be capable of killing his wife. She later posted that she was pregnant with Smith’s child.
The pair moved into Smith’s former home about a month after his wife was killed. Neighbors complained to police that the two engaged in sex on the lawn.
Thai later gave birth and put the child up for adoption. She hung herself in April.
Smith’s lawyer, Caroline Mann, spent part of Thursday’s hearing trying to keep mention of Thai out of the trial. Thai was flamboyant and her bizarre antics could be prejudicial to Smith, Mann said.
The public defender argued that statements Thai made about the case are irrelevant. She didn’t meet Smith until after his wife’s death and had never met Susann Smith.
Superior Court Judge Linda Krese declined to require prosecutors to refer to Love Thai by her birth name, Thai Nguyen. The judge said it would be important to determine if any prospective jurors recalled publicity about Love Thai before seating a jury. Krese agreed that information about Thai’s pregnancy and suicide won’t be admissible at trial.
Krese told lawyers she wants to see the television interview with Smith and Thai before deciding whether parts of it can be shown to jurors.
The trial is expected to span about three weeks.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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