By Scott North
Herald Writer
A Mill Creek man is facing a first-degree murder charge in the Sept. 28 death of a 17-year-old Everett girl after his statements to police convinced investigators he is a killer.
Robert Dale Woods, 21, allegedly strangled Jolene Desrosier with a telephone cord and then called police, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said in Superior Court papers filed Wednesday.
He earlier pleaded innocent to second-degree murder, the charge he was initially held on in connection with the killing. The new charge replaces that one.
Woods has been jailed since the killing in lieu of $250,000 bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned today.
"He initially told police that he found her dead when he came home and had no idea how she had died," Roe said. "After he told numerous conflicting stories and police investigated, it became obvious that he knew exactly how she died, because he had killed her."
Desrosier was a Lake Stevens High School student who lived on her own and was taking college-level classes. She worked as a waitress.
Woods, a convicted felon with a history of assaults on women, had been dating Desrosier’s older sister. The teen had been allowing Woods to stay at her apartment because it was convenient for his job. "Death at the defendant’s hands was Jolene’s reward," Roe said.
Woods became a suspect in the killing soon after police arrived at Desrosier’s apartment and found her, bound and nude, on the floor. Woods allegedly told an emergency dispatcher that the young woman had been strangled with a phone cord.
When police asked about the cord around Desrosier’s neck, "the defendant melodramatically feigned great surprise, apparently forgetting that he had already told 911 (in a recorded call) that he had found Jolene in exactly that condition," Roe said.
As the interview continued, Woods initially denied any romantic involvement with the slain teen, then claimed that they had a sexual relationship and that he’d left her tied up in the apartment as a "joke," Roe wrote.
Woods allegedly said it was possible Desrosier wound up with the phone cord around her neck "accidentally," the prosecutor added.
Investigators refused to accept that explanation, in part because Woods had fresh scratches and Desrosier had injuries indicating she had fought for her life, Roe wrote.
"The evidence shows the phone cord used to strangle Jolene could not have ‘accidentally’ come off the phone, ‘accidentally’ jumped around Jolene’s neck and ‘accidentally’ been pulled tight enough for long enough to kill her," the prosecutor added.
You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431
or send e-mail to north@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
