MILL CREEK — The man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend last week near Mill Creek committed the crime out of jealousy, according to police.
Days before the Jan. 4 stabbing, the man, 45, saw his ex-girlfriend with a different man, according to a Snohomish County sheriff’s detective’s report. They’d broken up six months earlier. He’d moved out of their shared apartment into another unit in the same complex in the 17700 block of Bothell Everett Highway.
Since the sighting, the former couple had been arguing for a few days, witnesses told investigators.
On the morning of Jan. 4, the man came into the woman’s apartment, the detective’s report states. They argued in the bedroom. Neighbors heard screaming.
When the neighbors entered, they found the man repeatedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend from behind in the chest and neck, police alleged. They tried to stop him, but couldn’t. One of them grabbed a tea kettle from the kitchen and hit the suspect in the head with it, forcing him to drop the knife. The neighbors hid the knife. The wounded woman’s daughter called 911.
The woman, 39, suffered life-threatening injuries, police said. She was rushed to Harborview Medical Center. She underwent a 7-hour surgery there. Her condition Monday was unclear.
Meanwhile, the suspect barricaded himself in the apartment’s master bedroom, according to investigators.
Around 12:30 p.m., about three hours after the first reports of the stabbing, a Snohomish County Superior Court judge reportedly approved a search warrant to arrest the suspect. After hours of negotiations, he surrendered to a SWAT team.
He had self-inflicted wounds, according to police. He was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett with serious injuries.
On Sunday afternoon, the suspect was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree assault and resisting arrest. He remained there Monday.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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