AUBURN, Wash. — The 31-year-old suspected of stabbing and killing a man inside Muckleshoot Casino in the early morning hours on Sunday allegedly told police he intended to kill "an associate" before the random attack.
The suspect, who has not been formally charged, is being held for first-degree murder in King County Jail. Bail was set at $5 million on Monday.
Police responded to Muckleshoot Casino around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday after receiving a call for a man suffering from a stab wound. Casino security also reported detaining the suspect.
When police officers arrived, they found a man bleeding from the neck and a boxcutter nearby. The victim died at the scene.
Witnesses told police the male suspect walked up behind the victim while the victim was at a gaming table, according to a police report. There was no prior altercation or contact between the two men.
After the stabbing, the suspect dropped the boxcutter and remained at the scene.
The suspect told police he traveled to the casino by bus with "the intent to kill an associate." He arrived around 10 p.m. and walked around the casino looking for his intended target, the suspect told police.
"Unable to find him, [the suspect] stated he began looking for someone else to kill in [his associate's] stead," the police report states.
The suspect told police he observed the victim as "being a bully" at a gaming table and selected him as his target.
The suspect "freely admitted" to stabbing the victim.
Officers reviewed surveillance footage, which shows there was no altercation between the victim and suspect before the stabbing.
In court on Monday, the victim's girlfriend, who goes by Liyh Miller Espinoza, said she had talked to him about 30 minutes before the stabbing. She received another call from him around 30 minutes later and could hear his voice and noise in the background, but he wasn't responding to her.
"That's not normal for him," she said. "It was not normal for him to not respond to me."
She later went to the casino and her boyfriend's house, where she learned what happened.
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