Author: csteiger

Another big arrest announced today by the Tacoma Police Department.  Twelve-year-old Michella Welch was found murdered in Puget Park in Tacoma in March of 1986.

The suspect, believed to be a man in his 60’s, was arrested locally.

This case tugged at the heartstrings of everyone involved, along with the murder of Jennifer Bastian, another little girl who was found murdered in Point Defiance Park.  For years, detectives believed they may have been committed by the same person. DNA tests more recently proved that samples collected came from two different males.

This case highlights that any case can be solved with persistent work by detectives.  Never give up.

Here is a link to the story reported in the Tacoma News Tribune.

Comments closed

I’ll be at Seaport Books, (106 1st St., La Conner, WA) on Thursday, August 16th for an “Author Event”.  The link to their website with the details are here.

If you’re in the area, stop by and say hi.

2 Comments

I was interviewed last week, by a news station in Springfield, MO. for a blog they run.

The topic was a more than 40-year-old murder of an innocent little girl, still unsolved.

I had some suggestions about how to move the case forward.

I’ll post a link to the podcast when it’s posted.  In the meantime, you can read about the murder here.

Comments closed

Great blog post in Psychology Today about the difference between serial and spree murders, written by my friend, Katherine Ramsland.  Read it here.

The Café Racer shooting  (detailed in my book) is a good example of what started as a mass shooting when Ian Stawiki shot almost everyone in the café, and then drove downtown, where he shot a woman for no reason and stole her car, thus making him a spree killer.

Stawiki killed himself when confronted by officers in West Seattle later that afternoon.

Comments closed

On January 5th, 1995, Martin Pang torched his parent’s frozen food warehouse to collect insurance money.  While fighting the fire, four Seattle firefighters died.

Pang was originally charged with First Degree Murder under the Felony Murder Rule. (He committed First Degree Arson, and because firefighters died, it became four counts of Murder 1).  Had he been convicted of the four murders, he would have spent the rest of his life in prison.

He fled to Brazil, and country with which the United States had no extradition treaty.  Brazil, which does not recognize felony murder, would only allow extradition for the Arson.

Pang pled guilty to four counts of Manslaughter.  Because of that, this narcissistic psychopath will be released from prison in September.

I wrote about working this case in my book.

You can see a report from KING-TV in Seattle here. 

Comments closed

I was interviewed by Amy Clancy of KIRO7 News, along with retired King County Sheriff’s detectives Tom Jensen and Jim Allen, about Familial DNA, and why it’s not allowed or used in Washington State.

Watch the interview here.

Comments closed

I was interviewed today for part of a documentary about Ted Bundy and murders he may have committed that were never attributed to him.

Check out the Facebook page for “Ted the Documentary” here.  It may be shown at the Sundance Film Festival next year.

Comments closed

Snohomish County detectives announced an arrest in the 1987 cold case murder of a young Canadian couple.  My office did some work on this case, so I can’t comment, but innovative use of DNA evidence was key.

You can see the story on KIRO-TV here.

Comments closed

Jeff Baird recently retired from the King County Prosecutor’s Office.  Among the people he prosecuted were serial killers, George Russell, Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway, and Dewayne Lee Harris.

Jeff appears prominently in my book.

Here’s an article in the Seattle Times about him.

Comments closed

Several states in the US utilize familial DNA.  It’s time for the others, (including Washington) to get on board.

This article in Forensic Magazine shows why this is important.

Comments closed