Court docs: Issaquah woman told police she axed, burned boyfriend believing he was a demon

The Issaquah Police Department arrested a woman after officers discovered a body when investigating an apartment building fire Tuesday morning.

According to court documents obtained by MyNorthwest and KIRO Newsradio, the woman, Kimberly Feyhl, told responding firefighters she was “told to shoot” the deceased male in the head and to “burn his body.”

Issaquah apartment fire leads to discovery of a body

Issaquah firefighters were initially called to respond to a sprinkler activation alarm at an apartment on Shangri-La Way N.W. just before 8 a.m. When firefighters arrived, they found the body of a man inside an apartment.

The Issaquah Police Department determined the victim died from injuries related to the fire as well as blunt force trauma. Feyhl, the current resident of the apartment where the body was found, also the apartment that set off the sprinkler activation alarm, was arrested by the responding police officers. It was later revealed that the victim was Ricky Schnepf, 43, Feyhl’s live-in boyfriend. They had been dating for approximately three or four years.

“One female was detained and is currently under arrest for Murder 1, due to blunt force trauma and fire,” the Issaquah Police Department stated. “The suspect was booked into King County Jail.”

The fire was isolated to just the one apartment. No other units were impacted within the apartment building.

The Feyhl sister revealed to KIRO 7 that her sister had been struggling with mental health and addiction for years.

Court documents reveal suspect thought her boyfriend was a demon

During an interview with Issaquah Police, Feyhl, 49, revealed that a couple of days prior to her boyfriend’s death, she was meditating when she heard a voice that told her to kill her boyfriend, Ricky. The voice, which she identified as God, told her that Ricky was a demon and he was going to kill her.

“According to Feyhl, she went to bed in her room last night while Ricky slept in a different room of the residence,” Issaquah Police stated, according to obtained court documents. “Feyhl stayed up all night, anticipating Ricky was going to come to her room to kill her, but he never came.”

Feyhl told the officers it was “kill or be killed,” so she retrieved an axe from her room and struck him in the head while he was asleep.

“Ricky began to moan, to which Feyhl thought the demon was speaking or leaving his body,” the court documents read.

Feyhl struck Ricky in the head multiple times with the axe. Once she was finished, Feyhl retrieved a bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured it over Ricky. Feyhl then used a lighter from her key chain to set him on fire.

According to the interview with Issaquah Police, Feyhl lit Ricky on fire, claiming fire was the only way to kill a demon.

Feyhl’s sister reveals mental health struggles

Feyhl had been struggling with mental health and addiction for years, according to Feyhl’s sister in an interview with KIRO 7.

“I think my biggest disappointment is in our healthcare because she, several times, asked for help and did not get the help that she needed,” the sister told KIRO 7. “Now this was the final cry and an innocent life had to die for it.”

The suspect’s sister began taking care of the suspect’s children once her sister’s mental health was struggling, according to KIRO 7.

“This is going to be very hard for them to hear this news,” her sister said.

Contributing: KIRO 7

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