Coroner IDs woman who Lacey police suspect was killed by her partner last month
A 39-year-old woman who police suspect was killed by her partner in a Lacey area apartment last month has been identified.
Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock identified the deceased woman as Elizabeth Provence. Warnock released her name to The Olympian Thursday, but said her official cause of death is still pending.
Evelyn Laine McMurray, the woman’s 45-year-old partner, was charged with second-degree manslaughter, domestic violence, on Feb. 28. Three days earlier, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Allyson Zipp found probable cause for the alleged crime and set bail at $1 million while her case progresses through the court.
McMurray remained in custody at the Thurston County jail as of Thursday, according to the jail roster.
Lacey Fire Department medics discovered Provence’s body inside the apartment on Feb. 25 and called Lacey police to investigate.
McMurray had called 911 after she said she took too much fentanyl the night before, according to court records. As medics treated her outside, she divulged that there was a dead body inside the apartment that had been there since Feb. 19.
When the medics asked her how the person died, McMurray allegedly pointed to herself. Court records state McMurray had a laceration on her neck and told medics she had been trying to commit suicide since Feb. 19 as well.
Lacey police entered the apartment under “exigent circumstances” and found Provence’s body lying face up on a bed.
Detectives later entered the home with a search warrant and noted Provence appeared bound with duct tape and a ratchet-type strap.
A notebook signed by McMurray reportedly contained passwords for electronic devices as well as several different versions of a letter.
Court records state the letter generally talked about “how the world was cruel” and it did not deserve McMurray and Provence.
