EVERETT — A Marysville man is accused of stabbing his girlfriend seven times and trapping her in a car for hours as she bled, before dropping her off at a hospital.
He was charged in Snohomish County Superior Court on July 1 with first-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment and violation of a protection order. The Daily Herald is not naming him to avoid potentially identifying the victim.
Edmonds police initially responded to reports of a stabbing in the morning of June 14. They went to Swedish Edmonds hospital, where a woman had walked in on her own. Medical records indicated she had been stabbed in the cheek, chest, arm, hand and ear, according to charging papers. Most of the wounds were about 2 centimeters in length. The one around her ear was 5 centimeters in length. A doctor who treated the woman’s wounds said one of her lungs likely had been punctured in the attack.
She reported she was attacked by her boyfriend, 64, outside his house in Marysville. They had been dating six years. At one point, they lived together.
The case was referred to Marysville detectives, who spoke to the woman in greater depth. She reported she and her boyfriend had gone to America’s Best Value Inn in Lynnwood, drank whiskey and got into an argument over money. The suspect, who was previously ordered by the court not to come into contact with the woman, reportedly was worried the argument was getting too loud and that police would be called.
They left and drove to his house in Marysville. The woman reportedly said she stayed in the car while he went into the house. When he came back, he was holding two knives, she said. She reported the two knives looked the same, about two inches in length, and either were kitchen or folding knives.
She was in the backseat going through her purse, she told detectives, when her boyfriend allegedly held her down and stabbed around her ear and neck. She screamed. Then the landlord shone a light into the car.
The landlord later told police he saw the suspect on top of the woman. He recalled saying, “That’s a lot of blood.”
The suspect told the landlord the woman hit him in the nose while they were trying to have intercourse, according to charging papers.
The woman told detectives that her boyfriend then got into the driver’s seat, activated the child safety locks and drove back to America’s Best hotel. He allegedly said “he had to kill her” because he thought she would turn him into police. The woman reportedly begged for her life, prosecutors wrote.
The suspect went through a Jack in the Box drive-thru in Lynnwood to get the woman water. He drove back to the hotel, where they sat in the parking lot until she said she was thirsty again. He went to a 7-Eleven, but didn’t go inside. He reportedly didn’t want to leave her in the car by herself, in case she fled.
The woman reported she then got pepper spray out of her purse and sprayed him in the eyes. He allegedly stabbed her in the chest in response.
He stopped at the 164th Street Artesian Well in Lynnwood and got her water, according to charging papers. He then put a sweater on his girlfriend, drove her to Swedish Edmonds hospital, and allegedly demanded that she tell hospital staff she was mugged.
“The defendant had kept (the woman) in the car for hours while she was bleeding from her wounds,” prosecutors wrote. “She said the defendant threatened to kill her and her kids if she reported him to police.”
Lynnwood police found the suspect in the lobby at America’s Best hotel around 4:50 a.m. He wore camouflage clothing and had blood on his shirt, undershirt and hands. He claimed they got into a fight over drugs. According to his version of events, she pepper sprayed him and tried to strangle him from behind with a telephone cord. He reported that he had no marks from the attempted strangulation, though, because he wore a turtleneck sweater.
He also claimed that when they went to his house, she stabbed him, because he had no methamphetamine to give her. He reported he managed to avoid being stabbed. They fought over the knife, he said, and then allegedly he jumped on her and stabbed her with the knife.
“I stuck the (expletive),” he allegedly told police. “I just stick her (expletive) … I lost it … I blacked out.”
Afterward, he reported, he threw the knife outside the window while driving on the highway, somewhere between Edmonds and Lynnwood.
According to charging papers, the suspect has an active fourth-degree assault case involving the woman’s two children, and another domestic violence harassment case involving the woman. On Jan. 22, the man allegedly laid on top of his girlfriend with a knife in his hand and told her, “If you scream, I will kill you.”
As of Friday, the man remained in Snohomish County Jail, with bail set at $500,000. His arraignment is scheduled for next week.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
How to get help
Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County provides free and confidential services, including an emergency shelter, legal advocacy, support groups and domestic violence education. For help, call the 24-hour support line: 425-25-ABUSE (425-252-2873).
Information: www.dvs-snoco.org
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