Judge orders Olympia man accused of murdering housemate Monday to be held without bail
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A 31-year-old Olympia man accused of murdering his housemate is being held in Thurston County jail without bail.
Sheriff deputies arrested Daniel Woodrow Wilson-Rains on Monday on suspicion of second-degree murder. Investigators believe he shot his 39-year-old housemate with an assault pistol after an argument and later called 911 to report the shooting.
Wilson-Rains reportedly told dispatchers he shot and killed the man because he was attacking his other housemate, a woman who court records say was the shot man’s partner.
Deputies encountered Wilson-Rains and the woman outside the home where the shooting occurred on the 4000 block of Libby Road Northeast, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
On Tuesday, Wilson-Rains attended his preliminary hearing in Thurston County Superior Court. Judge John Skinder found probable cause for the alleged crime and ordered Wilson-Rains be held without bail until further notice.
In doing so, Skinder sided with deputy prosecutor Alexis Egolf. who called Wilson-Rains’ actions “extremely concerning to community safety.”
“The defendant shot and killed his roommate and is alleged to have shot him five times with an assault weapon,” Egolf said. “The state is extremely concerned that the defendant while facing the life sentence is likely to flee the area.”
Bill Starnes, Wilson-Rains public defense attorney, asked Skinder to set bail at $250,000 and suggested his client may have acted in self-defense.
“The defendant had no prior felony convictions,” Starnes said. “He was residing in his own house when the incident happened. He certainly would be agreeable to electronic monitoring. We believe that some cash bail is appropriate.”
A probable cause statement describes the initial investigation into the shooting from the perspective of law enforcement.
Deputies arrived at the scene at about 10:30 p.m. and separately detained Wilson-Rains, who owns the home, and the woman who also lived there. A detective arrived at about 11:30 p.m. to investigate.
A deputy reportedly told the detective they had canceled a call for medical aid because the shot man suffered a fatal injury “from which no life saving measures would be beneficial,” according to the statement.
Deputies found an AR-15-style pistol that “looks like a small rifle” on the back porch, and a magazine inside the home near the back door.
The woman reportedly told the detective the shot man was her partner and they lived in the home with Wilson-Rains. She said she and her partner had gotten into an argument prior to the shooting.
She alleged her partner had grabbed her by the hair and pinned her to the wall at one point, prompting Wilson-Rains to confront him. She further alleged her partner had a history of physically abusing her.
Wilson-Rains reportedly told the decedent to leave the woman alone, according to the statement.
The woman said a “scuffle” ensued between the two men and she saw the barrel of a firearm pointed upward. Then she heard gunshots and realized her partner had been shot.
She told the detective she did not know how the firearm was introduced but she assumed her partner had picked it up, according to the statement.
A detective interviewed Wilson-Rains, who reportedly said he was inside his car when he heard shouting from within the home.
When Wilson-Rains entered the home, he said he saw the decedent pin the woman against the wall and confronted him. In response, he alleged the decedent began punching him in the face and head.
Wilson-Rains said he told the decedent to move out of the home, but he refused. The argument continued and Wilson-Rains said he eventually presented the weapon, according to court records.
He reportedly told detectives the decedent “lunged” at him from an unobstructed path before he fired the weapon four to five times from about 6 feet away. However, the statement says the detective noted clear obstructions at the scene.
The detective’s statement alleges Wilson-Rains’ story was disorganized, and he was ultimately unable to piece together a coherent series of events.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 10:32 AM.
