A Lynnwood man told police he struck his father in the head with a hatchet Tuesday after he heard voices in his head telling him to “return to the house to destroy his father,” court documents allege.
Bradley J. Schwan, 36, was being held in the Snohomish County Jail Wednesday for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of Everett Schwan, 62. The elder Schwan was found face down on a bed covered with a blanket in his home in the 4400 block of 181st Place SW, Lynnwood police said.
The younger man appeared briefly Wednesday in Everett District Court, where Judge Thomas Kelly set $500,000 bail.
Bradley Schwan lived with his father occasionally during the past decade, said Cinde Chapman, Bradley Schwan’s former girlfriend and mother of their 12-year-old son.
“The Brad I know is a good guy, but he’s sick,” Chapman said. “He was hardworking and tried to be a good father to his son. When he was well, they’d spend time together.
“I just hope he’s going to get the help he needs,” she said. “What happened is a tragedy.”
Schwan was arrested after Edmonds police were called by an employee of Compass Health, a mental health provider, about 9:30 a.m. Schwan allegedly told an employee there that he had hit his father in the head with an axe.
Lynnwood police were sent to the home Schwan shared with his father and found the elder Schwan. Medics were called and confirmed he was dead, court papers say.
Officers found a hatchet and knife in the home’s driveway. The hatchet, about 2 feet long with a rubber handle, appeared to have blood and tissue on it, papers say. When police arrested Schwan, he appeared to have blood on his face and blood on his right jacket arm, papers say.
The suspect told detectives that he had gone for a walk when the voices told him to go back and attack his father, papers say.
He got the hatchet and a large knife and “struck his father in the head with the hatchet two or three times,” papers say. “He told detectives that he brought the knife because he thought it was going to be an all-out war.”
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