Seattle homicide detectives are combing through a home in the Roanoke Park neighborhood, an overgrown area hidden away in the shadows of 520, just down the hill from St. Mark’s. Here’s the SPD brief:
On January 22 at approximately 6:30 p.m. officers responded to a residence in the 1100 block of East Roanoke Street for a welfare check. Officers located the 55-year-old male victim deceased in the basement of his home. It appears the victim may have been stabbed, although the cause of death is unknown at this time. Homicide and CSI Detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.
Google Street View of 1106 E. Roanoke:
It looks like the second Seattle homicide of 2009 will also be a near-hill incident — the first was the death of 24-year-old hip-hop artist Joseph Ryan in the Chop Suey shootings.
King County property records show the home belongs to a Chris Thompson. Seattle PI report includes details from neighbors about the home’s owner.
In Roanoke Park, neighbors said the resident, whom they identified as Chris Thompson, lived there for more than a decade. He lived alone after his longtime partner, Gerald Duval, 72, died of natural causes in 2007, they said.
Thompson was emotionally down immediately after Duval’s death, but he seemed friendly, neighbors said.
I just learned of Chris’ death through a mutual friend and was shocked. I was a friend & high school classmate or Gerald Duval and knew Chris as Gerald’s life partner. i would like to know if there is any progress on identifying who murdered Chris.
there seems to be a news vacuum about whatever happened in this case. and, the house is now up for sale. potential buyers better have some serious feng shui skillz!