SEATTLE – A 28-year-old homeless man has been arrested in the killing of a former local radio talk show host, police said Thursday.
Scott White was arrested Wednesday night and booked into the King County jail for investigation in the killing of Mike Webb, 51, who was the host of a late night talk show for 10 years on Seattle’s KIRO radio station, Assistant Chief Nick Metz said.
King County District Judge David Christie set bail at $1 million, saying there was sufficient evidence to hold White for investigation of second-degree murder. Prosecutors have yet to charge White with a crime.
In a statement of probable cause, police said detectives discovered that White had been using debit cards belonging to Webb after his death.
“Forensic evidence found at the scene unequivocally tied White to the murder scene,” the statement said, without elaborating.
Investigators had known about White for several weeks but only learned of his location on Wednesday. During questioning at police headquarters, White admitted killing Webb and hiding his body in the house he rented, Metz said.
White and Webb had apparently met in November and had lived together for a while, Metz said, without providing details. He would not discuss a possible motive, whether a weapon was found or other details.
Metz said he did not have any details on White’s criminal history or other details about his background. He would also not say whether investigators believe White acted alone or whether police were looking for other suspects.
A property manager cleaning out the house Webb was renting found his decomposed body in late June beneath boxes and a tarpaulin in a basement crawl space. An autopsy indicated he died sometime after April 13 from multiple sharp-force injuries.
A longtime friend, John McMullen, said Webb was last seen April 13, but his family continued to receive text messages from his cellular telephone for another month. The messages indicated Webb was fine and leaving town, but he did not normally use text messages and the messages stopped after relatives demanded that Webb call them, McMullen said.
KIRO fired Webb in December 2005 shortly after he was charged with insurance fraud. Prosecutors said he filed a fraudulent insurance claim after a traffic accident in June 2005.
Webb was convicted of insurance fraud in February, sentenced to 240 hours of community service and fined $1,000.
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