SPOKANE, Wash. — Police arrested a Spokane man after finding a body in the trunk of his abandoned vehicle on Friday, Oct. 22.
The suspect reportedly killed his daughter’s ex-boyfriend after learning that he allegedly sold her into a sex-trafficking organization in Seattle.
According to a press release from the Spokane Police Department (SPD), the murder took place during November of 2020. After rescuing his daughter, the suspect confronted his daughter’s 19-year-old boyfriend at a location in Airway Heights. Authorities said he tied the boyfriend up in the trunk of his car, hit him in the head with a cinder block and then stabbed him repeatedly, causing his death.
According to court documents, the man believed his daughter was sold into prostitution in Oct. 2020 by her then boyfriend and the victim. The father's fiancé said they had to drive over to Seattle to rescue their daughter after they learned of the incident.
He told police his daughter was sold into the prostitution ring for $1,000. He said as soon as he found his daughter in Seattle, he drove her back to Spokane and took her to Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Soon after the murder, he drove to a remote area in North Spokane County, abandoning the car with the body still inside.
The body remained there for a whole year before it was moved by a third-party in October 2021. The vehicle was then abandoned again on Everett Avenue where people began rummaging through the car, discovering the body. SPD officers verified that there were human remains in the car.
According to court documents, the witness discovered the 1991 Honda Accord that looked like it was abandoned near his home. He looked around the car and decided to open the trunk. When the trunk was opened, he found a decomposing body and smelled an "extremely foul odor."
He was charged with first-degree murder on Oct. 29 and has been taken into custody without incident. Prior to the murder, he had no violent criminal history.
According to the FBI, there has been no sex crime investigation for the murder victim.
Airway Heights police are currently assisting SPD officers with the murder investigation.
Editor's note: Out of an abundance of caution, KREM 2 News is not naming the suspect and victim out of protection of the minor involved in the case and the ongoing police investigation.