DNA led prosecutors to charge ex-boyfriend in murder of Kirkland woman
Jul 8, 2014, 10:13 AM | Updated: 5:27 pm
Strong circumstantial and DNA evidence has led prosecutors to charge the ex-boyfriend of a Kirkland woman with her murder.
Burrell M. Cushman, 28, was charged Tuesday afternoon with second-degree murder in the January 6 strangulation death of 28-year-old Amy Gang Hargrove.
According to court documents filed Tuesday, detectives linked DNA evidence found under Hargrove’s fingernails to Cushman. It was also determined that Cushman was the last person to see Hargrove alive on the evening of January 5.
Hargrove, a mother to four young children, had a restraining order out on Cushman at the time of her death and wrote in court documents that he was frequently violent toward her.
According to the restraining order, Hargrove feared Cushman planned to kill her.
“If something happens to me, find BJ,” read a note Hargrove left for a friend before she was killed.
Cushman is the father of Hargrove’s youngest child.
Despite the no-contact order, text messages suggest Hargrove and Cushman had rekindled their relationship in the months leading up to her death.
“Additional examination of text and Facebook conversations indicate that Burrell Cushman and Amy Hargrove re-united at the end of November 2013 and began to communicate and stay with each other regularly,” investigators wrote in a statement of probable cause. “Text communication and Facebook conversations detail a tumultuous relationship between Burrell Cushman and Amy Hargrove during that time.”
According to the documents, Hargrove sent Cushman’s mother several text messages, expressing frustration that she had allowed Cushman back into her life.
“Why did I let him back in? I give up. Why? I need this (no-contact) order and now it’s useless,” Hargrove wrote. “I cannot stand up for myself or get away from him now without a major disaster. I’m scared that I’m not going to live through this once he’ll kill me…”
By the time charges were filed in the case Tuesday, Cushman was already behind bars awaiting trial in an unrelated domestic violence assault.
As KIRO Radio first reported, Cushman was arrested on June 21 for allegedly assaulting his current girlfriend, who is pregnant with his child.
According to an incident report, Cushman was arrested by Seattle police officers at his residence on South Forest Street after his live-in girlfriend reported that he punched her several times in the stomach and repeatedly shoved her against a wall during two separate arguments.
He was charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic violence in the incident.
Cushman is a convicted felon and has a lengthy criminal history, including drug-related crimes.
He is currently being held on $1.5 million bail. His arraignment on the murder charge is scheduled for July 22.
