Bellevue police arrest suspect in murder of 70-year-old woman
Apr 14, 2014, 9:07 AM | Updated: Apr 15, 2014, 7:41 am
A 53-year-old man has been arrested in the suspected murder of a woman found dead in her downtown Bellevue apartment.
A relative found the 70-year-old woman’s body Sunday evening in an apartment building in the 1300 block of NE 12th Street, sparking a widespread manhunt.
“In less than 7-10 hours we had a suspect in custody for that murder,” says Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate. “The community doesn’t need to fear that is was a random act.”
The suspect has a criminal history that includes includes convictions for robbery, theft, taking motor vehicles, and is currently on active supervision by the state Department of Corrections for a 2011 conviction for taking a motor vehicle, The Seattle Times reports.
Iafrate says the victim was first discovered when a family member who hadn’t heard from the woman used a ladder to get in to the apartment and called 911 after finding her body.
Detectives got a search warrant Monday morning and quickly determined the woman died as a result of homicidal violence.
Iafrate won’t offer specifics about the cause of death but said crime-scene investigators from the State Patrol Crime Lab assisted in the investigation.
The suspect was arrested during a traffic stop in downtown Bellevue this morning, she says.
