Police arrest Olympia man suspected of manslaughter in September case
A gruesome find in mid-September led police to arrest a 32-year-old Olympia man Thursday on suspicion of second-degree manslaughter.
The man is suspected of playing a role in the killing of a 32-year-old Olympia man whose remains were found Sept. 15. Police located the man’s remains in a garbage bag alongside railroad tracks near the intersection of Plum Street Southeast and Union Avenue after two people walking in the area reported smelling a strong odor.
Police combed the area for evidence and have since conducted extensive forensic analyses to determine the identity of the victim, said Lt. Paul Lower.
Coroner Gary Warnock confirmed the victim to be a 32-year-old Olympia man who was known to be a transient. He said they are still working to contact the next of kin, so they are not releasing the victim’s name at this time.
The Olympian does not share the name of victims before their next of kin has been notified, nor does it identify the accused before they appear in court.
“Lots of forensic experts have been parts of this,” Lower said. “We’ve worked with the coroner’s office a great deal and we’ve used other professionals. … We were just recently able to get a positive identification on the deceased early this week.”
Once they identified the victim, police served a search warrant on the man’s last known residence on the 100 block of Seventh Avenue Southeast, Lower said.
Police found several people at the residence, Lower said. After conducting interviews and collecting more evidence, police found probable cause to arrest the man on suspicion of second-degree manslaughter.
“This case is still open, and we are still investigating. We’re likely to refer several charges on several other people for aiding and abetting in this case,” Lower said.
The man police arrested was due to appear in court Friday afternoon for a preliminary appearance.
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
