Thursday, January 17, 2008

SHANNON HARPS: DO SEATTLE POLICE HAVE THE KILLER?


Last updated January 16, 2008 11:22 p.m. PT
Break in Capitol Hill stabbing case
Man in custody has violent past

(P-I columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. contributed to this report.)

A parolee being held in a state prison facility is being investigated in connection with the New Year's Eve killing of Sierra Club worker Shannon Harps, but Seattle police were declining to call the man a suspect Wednesday night.

The 29-year-old man, who has a history of violent assaults against women, was picked up for violating conditions of his parole several days after the killing and is being held in the state correctional facility at Monroe awaiting Department of Corrections proceedings.

Harps, 31, was stabbed repeatedly about 7:10 p.m. New Year's Eve near her condominium in the 1500 block of East Howell Street. Police have been circulating a sketch of a man said to have left the scene while others rushed to Harps' aid, but that bearded man hasn't been named, and investigators are still calling him a "person of interest."

Seattle police would not confirm whether the man being held in Monroe was a suspect or even a person of interest in the Harps case.

(snip)

Police said he has a lengthy history of violence against women. On Oct. 28, 2003, Seattle police arrested him after he beat up a girlfriend. The woman told police her boyfriend came home drunk and punched her in the face several times after they began arguing about his drinking.

"He told her he could kill her slowly and painfully, and this would fulfill his fantasy," the officer wrote in his report.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE...

No comments: