‘Rare crime’ in Redmond proves how useful DNA can be

When the suspect in an horrific attack fled the scene in Redmond’s Marymoor Park, he left behind a key piece of evidence that — had this happened years prior — wouldn’t have been of much use.

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King County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Satterberg says the attack in the park in August is a “rare crime,” however, it’s a crime “everyone lives in fear of.”

On Wednesday, 33-year-old transient Charles Stockwell Jr. was charged with first-degree assault for allegedly attacking a Redmond woman while she was walking her dog. The Seattle Times reports Stockwell hid in the bushes and attacked the woman from behind.

Satterberg told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don that, after beating the woman and nearly breaking one of her arms — he popped it out of the socket — he took a shoelace from his own shoe and began to strangle her.

Stockwell was allegedly scared off after another man ran toward the two after hearing the woman’s screams.

According to Satterberg, the shoelace Stockwell used to strangle the woman was the key evidence.

“He left skin cells on the ends of the lace,” he explained.

The first time the crime lab ran the lace nothing appeared. That was because Stockwell wasn’t in the system yet. When they ran it a second time, his DNA appeared, after being convicted of a felony in Kitsap County.

Satterberg says it is likely that law enforcement would have never caught up to Stockwell if DNA testing wasn’t as advanced and readily available as it is today.

King County Sgt. Cindi West agrees.

“Technology and science have really increased our ability to solve crimes in a lot of ways,” she said. “Whether it’s technology with video cameras and such that people have, or science-type with DNA and such. We’re really happy we have this system and that it helped us identify this suspect.”

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