Mukilteo police seek answers in man’s death

Published 9:00 pm Friday, May 6, 2005

MUKILTEO – Mukilteo police are investigating why a Snohomish man died after police brought him to a mental health care center here.

The man, 60, died Saturday at a Compass Health facility in the 10700 block of Mukilteo Speedway, Mukilteo Police Chief Mike Murphy said.

The man had been detained the afternoon before by Snohomish city police. Officers there were assisting in serving a court order requiring the man to submit to a mental health evaluation, Snohomish Police Chief Gordon Wiborg said.

When the man resisted, police used a stun gun, a device designed to incapacitate people with a burst of electricity.

The man was taken to an Everett hospital for a medical examination, then brought to the Mukilteo mental health care center.

Mukilteo police are treating the death as suspicious but have not linked the man’s death to his arrest, Murphy said.

Snohomish County Medical Examiner Norman Thiersch did an autopsy Monday. His conclusions are pending the results of additional tests, Murphy said.