Edmonds man suspected of murdering his wife says he ‘saw demons’

A 73-year-old Edmonds man is in custody in Snohomish County Jail as the investigation continues into Friday afternoon’s apparent murder of his 66-year-old wife in their Westgate-area home.

According to the police report, the suspect contacted 911 shortly before 5 p.m. July 29 and told the dispatcher that “he had attempted to murder his wife” of 44 years. He further told the dispatcher that he had tried to cut his wife’s throat with a kitchen knife, but “was not very successful.” He repeatedly asked the dispatcher to “please kill me.”

Officers responded to the scene in the 23400 block of 94th Avenue West, where they found the victim deceased, although the cause of death was not immediately apparent.

The victim’s husband was detained and transported to a hospital for evaluation based on his initial statements, and a search warrant was issued for the residence. Edmonds police detectives were joined by a team from the Washington State Police Crime Lab to process the scene.

After being medically cleared, the husband was transferred to the Edmonds police station, where he was interviewed by detectives. During the interrogation, he admitted to the crime and provided details of events and specific acts he took to end his wife’s life.

According to probable cause documents filed in Snohomish County Superior Court, the suspect told detectives that he has been “seeing demons,” that he believes he is “going to hell due to the way he has lived his life,” and that he or his wife would die at any time as “judgment for the life he had led.” He went on to add that he believed “today was judgment day,” and that “his judgement was to kill his wife.”

The husband was booked into jail Friday evening, and is being held for second-degree murder and domestic violence.

Edmonds police said that detectives are continuing to process evidence obtained at the scene, conduct interviews and assemble additional information to aid the county prosecutor’s office in building a case.

— By Larry Vogel

  1. Scary. We tell people that the only way to save their lives, now and for eternity, is to try and hear imaginary voices in their head. And not just hear those imaginary voices, they are told to try and talk to those imaginary characters every day, multiple times a day.

    Than they are told to see imaginary creatures as well. Some good, and some bad.

    Are we not surprised that trying to convince billions of people that they have schizophrenia will lead to negative outcomes for many? Many hundreds of thousands have been killed based on what people have convinced themselves that those imaginary characters told them to do.

    1. What a strange, cryptic response… once again someone hiding behind a keyboard. This man has mental illness. It should not be diagnosed over a computer by someone taking a shot at faith – one clearly misunderstood by the writer.

      1. I appreciate this comment because I am close to this family and know that it was not religion nor faith but rather mental illness that led to my beautiful friends murder. Snap judgements are not helpful.

    2. The two most murderous regimes in human history, and the world’s current most brutal dictatorship all practice/practiced state atheism. Blaming religion for the existence of murder and more specifically a mental illness driven murder isn’t very factually based or productive

  2. Horrific crime that I don’t think any of us expected to happen in our town. My sincere condolences to the victims family, and also the family of the husband. The man was clearly not mentally well.

  3. This event itself is only slightly sadder than these unhelpful and, to a certain extent, untrue responses. Mental illness and domestic violence are complicated things and can’t be boiled down to truisms and urban myths of cause and effect.

  4. I live one street over from them and can see their street/driveway from my back bedroom window. I saw the police vehicles in their driveway Friday night. I have driven and walked by their house numerous times. My condolences to the woman’s family, their daughter, extended family and their friends and neighbors.

  5. This is so sad. I send my condolences to the family. I wish we could make more progress in mental illness treatments and care in this Country.

  6. This is a very sad story — and especially happening in Edmonds. Just another example of severe mental illness. My condolences and prayers go out to the family.

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