Manslaughter, murder charged in 3 Snohomish County homicides

EVERETT — New details were revealed in three unrelated homicides when prosecutors filed charges Friday in Snohomish County.

One is the manslaughter of Charlie Hatem, of Everett, who was beaten to death at an upper-floor apartment on Hewitt Avenue in September. Police arrested a suspect Nov. 12.

Another is the murder of Mountlake Terrace woman Candice Black, who was clubbed to death in an argument allegedly over her deceased boyfriend.

A third is the murder of Everett man Mark Giless, who tried to get mental health help for his wife. She is accused of stabbing him to death.

All three defendants are awaiting trial.

Charles Hatem, 52

A neighbor called police at 5:10 a.m. Sept. 9, when a man was found dead covered in a blanket in an upstairs hallway of the Commerce Building, 1803 Hewitt Ave.

Police knocked on the door of the nearest apartment. No one replied. Officers entered with a pass key. Inside were Kyle Wheeler, his father and his girlfriend. Wheeler was asleep on the floor, police wrote.

Wheeler, 40, of Lynden, had blood stains on his shirt and pants, and an injury to his right hand. He reportedly told police he’d hit Hatem, but that “he was fine.” He’d dragged him into a hallway by his ankle and left him there — to sleep, he said. Police told him Hatem was dead. Wheeler “dropped to his knees and started crying,” according to the charges.

Hatem had been staying at the apartment of Wheeler’s father. Wheeler believed Hatem was taking advantage of his dad by not paying rent, the charges say. The son confronted Hatem at a downtown bar.

Afterward, they got into a fight around 10 p.m. in the room.

Officers believed both men had been drinking heavily.

Hatem’s blood-alcohol content at the time of death was estimated at 0.235 by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office. An autopsy showed Hatem died of head trauma. A broken bone in his throat suggested he’d been choked, too.

In November, a man told police that when Wheeler returned to his home, he described a fight where he hit a man who died. Wheeler told the friend that he “beat the (expletive) crap out of the guy.” The friend noted Wheeler could be “extremely aggressive” when he drank.

Wheeler phoned the lead detective Nov. 7, charging papers say. He sounded intoxicated to the detective, and Wheeler made crude comments about Hatem. Wheeler reportedly told the detective he’d acted in self-defense, but wouldn’t explain how. Police arrested him.

Prosecutors charged Wheeler with manslaughter Friday. His bail is set at $250,000.

Hatem was the father of two children.

He was a star athlete at Central Washington University in the 1980s. Old classmates and teammates started a fundraiser for his family.

Candice Black, 29

Doctors at Swedish/Edmonds hospital explained to the family of Kyle Johnson that he would not survive a drug overdose on the night of Nov. 3.

At the hospital his stepfather, David Nieuwenhuis, fixed his anger on Johnson’s girlfriend, Candice Black, blaming her for the death and telling her she should be the one who died, according to charging papers. The couple had been using heroin and methamphetamine together, and she called 911 when Johnson lost consciousness.

Black’s mother described Nieuwenhuis, 43, as grunting with rage at her daughter, like he “wanted to rip her apart,” the charges say.

Days later, Nov. 11, he told Black to pick up her stuff from his house in Mountlake Terrace. That afternoon they talked and grieved about the death for hours. At one point, Nieuwenhuis told her he planned to turn in evidence of drug dealing to police. He got up to use the bathroom. When he returned to the couch, she hit him in the forehead with an iPad, Nieuwenhuis claimed. He grabbed a 3¼-foot club, with metal screws protruding from one end.

“He said he does not remember what happened next but that he fought for his life and they somehow ended up outside,” charging papers say.

He recalled striking Black at least once when she was already on the ground. After midnight, Nieuwenhuis called police saying he might have killed her. She was found dead from massive head trauma.

An autopsy showed the stick left at least eight wounds: three to the back, two to the neck, three to the head.

Nieuwenhuis was charged with domestic violence murder in the second degree. He’s being held on $1 million bail.

Mark Giless, 53

A woman called 911 the evening of Nov. 12, saying she needed to talk with a police officer. She would not say why.

“It’s bad,” she said.

Once police met her downtown at the corner of Everett and Lombard avenues, Robin Nolcini, 50, told officers she murdered her husband, Mark Giless, at 11 a.m. in their apartment about a half-mile away, according to charging papers.

She reportedly admitted she stabbed him once with a knife.

Giless had grown concerned about his wife’s mental health. He’d called a taxi that morning, to take Nolcini to the hospital for an evaluation. According to her statement, the cab was supposed to show up in about 11 minutes, and in that time, she stabbed him.

Officers entered the apartment in the 2500 block of Grand Avenue. They found Giless dead in a hall, with a hunting knife at his feet.

The couple had knives in the home. Nolcini went to Walmart to buy a bigger one, she reportedly said, to make sure it would kill him.

Nolcini told police she’d had recurring thoughts of killing her husband for weeks, and that she felt she’d “gone insane.”

Prosecutors charged Nolcini with first-degree murder Friday. She’s being held on $1 million bail.

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