Wash. murder-arson suspect arrested in Seattle
A man sought by police in a Washington state homicide and arson case — and who authorities had warned might have traveled to Central Oregon — was arrested in Seattle Tuesday morning, officers said.
Seattle police found a stolen pickup truck associated with last week’s homicide investigation in Elma, Washington, said Grays Harbor County sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Steve Shumate.
Around 10:30 a.m., Seattle police saw a man get into the pickup who resembled the wanted man, Jacob Eveland, 37, Shumate said. They contacted the man, who gave a false name before confirming he was Eveland, Shumate said.
Eveland owned a home in Elma where a man’s body was found. Deputies said he should be considered armed and dangerous, and said he could have been headed to Central Oregon, as he knew and liked the Bend-Redmond area.
Shumate said Seattle police investigators and Grays Habor County sheriff’s detectives interviewed Eveland, who “ultimately admitted his involvement in the case.” Detectives were working to find the weapons used in the homicide.
Last week, Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott told NewsChannel 21 they had no firm information or leads that Eveland was heading to the High Desert, only that it was “n area he likes and has spent some time in.”
Neighbors in Elma reported hearing gunshots fired and an explosion along Hicklin Road around 11 p.m. last Tuesday, the station reported. When crews arrived, they found the house engulfed in flames and a man dead in the front yard.
Officials identified the deceased as a 47-year-old white male, one of several suspected drug users and sellers who had been occupying the home recently along with other “transients.”
Police said the victim was assaulted with an edged weapon and a firearm. No weapons have been recovered, but authorities say the stolen pickup had a .22-caliber pistol in it.
Eveland had been released from the Grays Harbor County Jail on May 24 on a domestic violence charge involving his girlfriend, who has since left the state.
