Murder charges against Olympia football player reveal new details in Orting man’s death
Murder charges filed Tuesday against two Olympia teenagers accused of killing a 51-year-old man in Orting revealed new details in a case that first drew public attention over one teen’s suspicious disappearance.
Charging documents allege that the boys, Gabriel Davies and Justin Jiwoon Yoon, both 16, broke into the Orting man’s house through a dog door while wearing gloves and dark clothes. Records state that Davies father told law enforcement that the teens were directed to steal something from the house by the victim’s “biker buddies,” who allegedly threatened to hurt them if they didn’t follow through.
Davies and Yoon were charged in Pierce County Superior Court with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree burglary — all filed with firearm enhancements — as well as two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
They were arraigned Tuesday afternoon, and Superior Court Judge James Orlando set bail at $1 million. The teenagers, who are jailed at Remann Hall Juvenile Detention Center, were automatically charged as adults due to the seriousness of the offenses and their ages.
Pierce County deputy prosecutor Lisa Wagner cited the defendants’ alleged “level of planning” and efforts to conceal evidence in requesting $1 million bail for both teens.
Wagner also said both defendants were a flight risk. She alleged Davies staged his disappearance to avoid prosecution.
The News Tribune does not typically name juveniles charged with crimes. In this case, the names are being published due to recent prior coverage of Davies’ disappearance as well as the seriousness of the alleged offenses.
Both teenagers have retained private attorneys. Davies’ lawyer, Brett Purtzer, declined to comment about the case. Yoon’s lawyer, Angela Horwath, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The defendants’ families attended the hearing via Zoom but did not make statements.
Wagner said officials are still working to locate the victim’s family.
Davies drew public attention last week when he went missing while on his way to football practice. His vehicle was found — with some blood inside and smashed cell phone nearby — and a two-day search ensued. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office led the effort with assistance from the FBI and other agencies.
Those worried about Davies’ return found relief after midnight Thursday, when the Sheriff’s Office announced he had been found. But the story soon took a turn. Earlier that day, a man was found dead with a gunshot wound in Orting. Davies and Yoon were arrested for the man’s killing the following night.
The victim and Davies’ knew one another, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss told The News Tribune. According to previous reporting, additional property and court records from Pierce and Thurston counties tie the home where the killing occurred to a 51-year-old man with longstanding connections to Davies and his mother. All of them lived at the address for several years. The man and Davies’ mother were a couple, according to statements filed by both individuals in a long-running family law case.
Man found shot, stabbed
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was found dead Thursday morning by Pierce County deputies conducting a welfare check at a home in the 21700 block of 190th Street East, about 5 miles east of Orting. Records state the man hadn’t shown up for his last four shifts at work.
The man was found in the laundry room, with a “significant amount” of blood near his body and some splattered on the washing machine. According to charging documents, he might have been dead for as long as four days before he was found. Decomposition made identifying some wounds difficult.
Fire department personnel arrived and found a spent shell casing near his body and a possible gunshot wound to his temple, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Further investigation by a medical examiner found defects on the man’s stomach and chest believed to be stab wounds.
No firearm was found near the victim, but more shell casings and “numerous” gun cases and ammunition-loading equipment were found around the house and in a detached garage. According to the probable cause document, a .45-caliber shell casing and a 9 mm casing were found, indicating that two guns were possibly used. Two empty gun holsters were also found.
It was later determined that the defendants stole two firearms from the residence and disposed of them in Thurston County.
Investigators connect disappearance to killing
Investigators began connecting the man’s killing with Davies’ disappearance after detectives learned the man had previously been in a relationship with Davies’ mother. According to the probable cause document, detectives believed that was important information because Davies had been reported missing. Deputies contacted Thurston County detectives, who advised that Davies’ vehicle was recovered near Tenino with exterior damage and blood on the steering wheel.
A Thurston detective investigating the teen’s disappearance was contacted by the father of Davies’ friend, Justin Yoon, records state. The father claimed to have information about a crime in which Davies was involved.
As part of the missing person investigation, a detective spoke with members of Davies’ family, who said he and Yoon had gone camping at Panther Lake in Mason County Aug. 27-28. In Davies’ room at his home, detectives found a single 9 mm shell casing, but it was not collected. According to the document, the victim’s death was unknown to any police agency at that point.
Davies’ was found at about 10 p.m. Sept. 1, about three miles from where his vehicle had been found abandoned. Records state he wasn’t wearing a shirt or shoes, but he didn’t have any injuries that would have indicated he had been walking through the woods for the 36 hours he was missing.
“Davies initially told a detective that he could not remember what had happened to him, or where he had been during his disappearance,” prosecutors wrote in the charging document. “He later stated that he could not say what had happened to him because people were going to hurt him.”
Video captures break-in
Surveillance footage from a DVR found at the victim’s home showed two “young skinny males” approaching the house from the backyard at about 1:59 a.m. Aug. 28. The two crawled into the home through a dog door. One appeared to have pepper spray on his belt.
About 40 minutes later, the victim can be seen exiting his detached garage. He “stumbled” into his residence, prosecutors wrote in the charging document. Six minutes later, the victim’s dog runs out the dog door, and the suspects exit shortly after through a side door. The two ran back and forth to the garage before fleeing at about 2:52 a.m. with several items in tow, including a “possible handgun.”
Detectives obtained state Department of Licensing photos for Davies and Yoon and compared them to the footage. It appeared to be them, prosecutors wrote.
Defendant’s father calls detective
On Sept. 2, a Thurston County detective received a call from Davies’ father, who told him “Gabe was involved in [the victim’s’] death,” records state. He went on to say that the victim’s “biker buddies” had approached his son, telling him to steal an item from a safe in the man’s house and threatening harm if he didn’t do it.
Davies’ told Yoon about this, the father said, and the teenagers developed a “plot” to take the item. The two went to the man’s house the night of Aug. 28 or the next morning. The item was not identified in the charging papers.
“The father reported that his son knew where the victim’s gun was kept, and said that ‘when the victim came into the house, Justin ran after him and stabbed him’, and stated that ‘Then, Gabe heard a gunshot,’” records state.
Davies went to the garage to retrieve the item they were there to take when he heard a second gunshot, the father told the detective. His son told him that the firearm used in the incident was ditched near his home. According to the probable cause document, Davies, with the assistance of his attorney, later showed investigators where the guns were disposed. A 9 mm handgun and a .45-caliber handgun were found in a military-style ammunition can, along with loaded ammo magazines. More than a dozen knives also were found.
The father also reported that the victim’s “biker buddies,” who he said were members of a “specific outlaw motorcycle club,” records state, attacked his son days after the shooting. He said the bikers followed Davies on Wednesday and pulled him out of his vehicle at the location where it was later found abandoned.
“Defendant Davies told his father that the blood in his truck was from the bikers smashing his face against the interior of the car,” records state. “They also reportedly put him in a Suburban and drove him around, roughing him up before releasing him.”
Davies’ also reportedly told his father that the bikers took his shirt and shoes, then went through his vehicle looking for what had been taken from the victim. However, according to the document, Davies told his father the bikers didn’t actually take anything.
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Murder charges against Olympia football player reveal new details in Orting man’s death."
