<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2wJwFs_0wBR6HEz00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2wJwFs_0wBR6HEz00" width="1320" height="743" >SEATTLE — Investigators allege a man killed a woman and kept her body inside a suitcase in a structure he built at a Seattle homeless encampment.Prosecutors charged Steven Thanh Nguyen, 57, with one count of second-degree murder for killing Shannon Marie Reeder, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court on Wednesday.“The defendant appears to have murdered the victim with an axe or other sharp object, stashed her body inside a suitcase for weeks, and abandoned the victim’s remains to be bulldozed by a cleaning crew,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Thomas O’Ban wrote in charging papers.Reeder’s body was found on Sept. 27 when social workers and teams from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) were removing a homeless encampment from woods near the intersection of I-5 and I-90 in Seattle.A worker noticed a strong odor inside a structure in the encampment and investigated by removing a suitcase from underneath a bed.“This social worker opened the suitcase, cut through plastic packaging, and observed what appeared to be human hair,” a Washington State Patrol (WSP) arrest report states.<div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k6ZVyag0cK8?si=9p8tfC5W9hH3kSQN" frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div>The King County Medical Examiner’s Office took possession of the body and identified the woman as Reeder. A medical examiner physician estimated Reeder’s body had been in the suitcase for weeks to months, adding that she had several broken bones throughout her body.The autopsy also revealed Reeder had several sharp force injuries to her head, which were ‘consistent with a blow from a sharp axe or hatchet,’ the report states.Investigators located mail with Nguyen’s name on it in the structure where Reeder’s body was found. Witnesses in the camp also told troopers that Nguyen was known to walk around the camp with an axe or hatchet.“According to [witness], Nguyen would often trade drugs for other items,” the arrest report states. “[Witness] had been inside Nguyen’s structure about a month ago to trade, and he noticed the bed had been lifted up from the ground on a podium structure. This was when [witness] started to notice a strong odor near Nguyen’s tent.”On Oct. 3, Seattle police arrested Nguyen for a Department of Corrections warrant, and he was questioned about Reeder’s body being found in his structure at the encampment.“Nguyen advised that he built the structure from scratch about a year ago,” the report states. “Nguyen said he used an axe to build it. WSP detectives asked Nguyen about the strong odor coming from the tent. Nguyen stated he had noticed it but thought the odor was emitting from the makeshift toilet.”<img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=16WS96_0wBR6HEz00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=16WS96_0wBR6HEz00" width="648" height="365" >Nguyen denied owning the suitcase but admitted to knowing Reeder and being in an intimate relationship with her.“Nguyen eventually admitted that Reeder came to his tent structure sometime in July of this year,” the report alleges. “According to Nguyen, Reeder overdosed on fentanyl and died when the two were smoking together. Nguyen got scared and didn’t notify authorities. Instead, he placed her body in a sleeping bag and wrapped it in plastic before putting her into the suitcase. He then stashed the suitcase inside the wooden podium structure under his bed.”Investigators questioned Nguyen about Reeder’s injuries, and he claimed she had fallen down and hit her head on rocks the day before she overdosed on fentanyl.On Oct. 8, Dr. Nicole Yarid with the King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Reeder’s cause of death to be multiple sharp and blunt force injuries, and the manner of death was a homicide.“Doctor Yarid further indicated that Reeder’s injuries were not consistent with falling and hitting her head on rocks. Doctor Yarid also mentioned that the injuries were not the usual ones seen when somebody tries to dismember a body (to fit it into a suitcase or to otherwise dispose of the body),” the report states.The following day, investigators went to the SCORE jail in Des Moines, where Nguyen was being held, and asked about the medical examiner’s findings. Nguyen indicated he wanted a lawyer, and the interview ended, according to the report.In 2022, Nguyen was convicted of assault after putting a gun to a woman’s head and pulling the trigger while asking her to commit a sexual act. The gun didn’t go off, and the woman was able to run away, according to charging documents.Court records show Nguyen has had more than 20 warrants for failing to appear and failing to comply with court orders. Prosecutors noted he also has a history of criminal convictions out of state.Nguyen is being held on a bail of $ 2 million and is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Oct. 30.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Man charged with murder of woman found dead in suitcase at Seattle homeless encampment

SEATTLE — Investigators allege a man killed a woman and kept her body inside a suitcase in a structure he built at a Seattle homeless encampment. Prosecutors charged Steven Thanh Nguyen, 57, with one count of second-degree murder for killing Shannon Marie Reeder, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court on Wednesday.