Woman, 19, stabs 73-year-old landlord to death then shows his sister his body on video call

Monday, October 28, 2024 - A woman in Washington state has been arrested and charged with murder after her shifting stories surrounding the death of her 73-year-old landlord landed in self-defense.

Police first got involved with the case after receiving a call at approximately 7:15 pm on Friday, October 25, about the elderly woman's death from the suspect's brother-in-law.

He told the King County Sheriff's Office that his sister-in-law had called her sister, his wife, saying that she killed someone and had shown her a body on a video call.

None of the identities of the people involved have yet been released by authorities.

When police contacted the 19-year-old suspect, based on information provided by her sister and brother-in-law, she initially denied there even was a dead body. She told the dispatcher "it was all a joke and that she was all the way in Everett with a friend," according to the police's probable cause statement.

After further questioning by the 9-1-1 operator, the suspect's story changed and she reportedly confessed, "I killed her."

She went on to detail the alleged incident, saying that the landlord "tried to punch me, and I stabbed her."

Additional details emerged after the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office released the probable cause documents. Those documents detail that the suspect had lived in the building for approximately one year.

When deputies arrived on the scene, they found a deceased woman in the residence.

The suspect was read her Miranda Rights and, according to police documents, confessed again to killing her landlord.

After she was brought in for questioning, the woman told detectives she had recently "been behind on rent," which is what triggered the incident.

She allegedly told authorities her landlord pulled her into another room and asked about the rent, at which time the suspect claims the older woman "struck her in the face." The suspect went on to claim a fight broke out between the two, where the victim "pulled her hair and the drawstring on her hoodie during the struggle."

In response, the suspect said, according to the court documents, she hit the victim back "hard" and stabbed her "twice with a knife that was already in the room."

When asked what would've happened if she hadn't stabbed the victim, detectives report the woman responding, "Nothing," saying that her landlord "would still be alive and I wouldn't be here."

According to the brother-in-law, the suspect had been making threats for the past month that she would kill her landlord "if she asked her again about paying rent." He said they did not take her threats seriously.

He and the suspect's sister used to live at the same residence, but moved out a month ago, according to police, but the landlord would still contact them, as well, about the suspect's late rent.

The suspect has been charged with second-degree murder and is currently being held in the King County Jail on a $2 million bond.