Two-month manhunt ends with arrest of domestic violence suspect in Thurston County

A two-month-long manhunt for a “high lethality” domestic violence suspect ended with his arrest, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Christmas Day.

The domestic violence incident first occurred in late October. Deputies with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to assist the Tumwater Police Department for a domestic violence assault within the city.

According to investigating deputies, an ex-spouse broke into the victim’s house, violating a no-contact order in the process. The ex-spouse assaulted the victim, who tried to lock herself in a bathroom. The suspect told the victim, “someone is going to die tonight,” before strangling the victim and fleeing the scene.

Deputies checked the area extensively, but were unable to locate the suspect.

“Since then, TCSO (Thurston County Sheriff’s Office) expended numerous resources trying to track the suspect down to no avail,” Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders wrote in a social media post. “Despite this, every day that K9 Asher and his handler worked, I continued to hear them patrolling near the victim’s house and areas the suspect was known to frequent.”

On Thursday, Christmas Day, K9 Asher and his handler identified a suspicious person in Tumwater as the domestic violence suspect they were looking for.

The suspect was arrested and booked into Thurston County jail for first-degree burglary, first-degree domestic violence, assault in violation of a no-contact order, second-degree assault via strangulation, and additional outstanding domestic violence warrants.

“Incredible job by all of our deputies who investigated and refused to stop searching for a high lethality DV suspect,” Sanders said.

“When you type ‘relentless’ into your search bar, this is the first photo that should populate,” he added, referencing the photo of K9 Asher and his handler.

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