Herald staff
A Lake Stevens-area man was charged with second-degree murder Tuesday after a shooting Saturday at his home.
Dennis Merle Welk, 59, killed Robert Hamilton during the course of an assault, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Michael Downes alleged in a single-page criminal complaint filed in Everett District Court.
The shooting occurred at Welk’s apartment in the 400 block of 97th Avenue NE in Lake Stevens. Hamilton, 55, of Marysville, apparently died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Welk appeared briefly in Everett District Court on Monday, where he was ordered jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The man, 59, called up his estranged wife, 30, and told her to come pick up her boxed belongings. When the woman arrived, the man pulled a knife, bound her partially in duct tape, and beat and sexually assaulted her, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor David Kurtz alleged in Superior Court papers.
The woman escaped when the man took a large amount of prescription drugs and began to get drowsy. He had been making suicidal statements before taking the drugs, Kurtz alleged.
The man was taken to an area hospital and later booked into the county jail in Everett. His bail has been set at $200,000.
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