Former JBLM soldier pleads not guilty in Kirkland slaying
Jul 23, 2012, 12:19 PM | Updated: 2:02 pm
A former Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier pleaded not guilty Monday to first-degree murder in the Nov. 30, 2011 death of a Kirkland woman.
Dakota M. Wolf, 20, is accused of fatally stabbing 19-year-old Scarlett Paxton in the neck outside her apartment while he was absent without leave from the military.
Prosecutors say the attack was random.
Police recovered bloody clothing, a knife and DNA evidence linking Wolf to the murder, according to court documents.
By the time investigators named Wolf a suspect in the murder, he had already been booked into the corrections facility at JBLM for being AWOL. He was arraigned Monday after being released from military custody there.
During an initial interview with investigators, Wolf denied involvement in the murder but said he was high on a synthetic drug called Spice and in the area at the time of the crime. He said he was addicted to the drug and suffered from “paranoia, hallucinations, anxiety, and memory issues,” according to court documents.
Wolf remains held on $2 million bail. If convicted, he faces 22 to 28 years in prison.
