King County prosecutors filed a first-degree murder charge against a 40-year-old Kent man in connection with the stabbing death of his girlfriend, a 45-year-old Kent woman found dead Dec. 21 in her apartment.
Shawn David Gulseth, charged Jan. 11 with murder, remained at large Tuesday. Kent Police have been looking for Gulseth as a suspect in the death of Bonnie Peterson since officers found her body at the Village at Lake Meridian apartments on the East Hill after a call from a concerned friend.
“We continue to take leads from the community, though it appears he has either gone deep underground locally or left the area,” said Kent Police Lt. Pat Lowery in a Jan. 11 e-mail. “Anyone that believes they have seen him should immediately call local police and not make any attempt to stop or detain him.”
Gulseth is described as a white male, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 185 pounds. He has brown hair pulled back with a pony tail and has extensive tattoos from his neck to his arms.
Anyone who sees Gulseth should call 911. Anyone with information about where to find Gulseth is asked to call the Kent Police at 253-856-5808.
Prosecutors are requesting that Gulseth be held on $1.5 million bail when he is located and arrested.
“Given the particularly savage nature of the offense and the defendant’s lengthy and violent criminal history, bail in the amount requested is appropriate,” wrote senior deputy prosecutor Jessica Berliner in charging papers.
Gulseth has 17 convictions, including six felonies, in three states, Washington, Minnesota and California. In 2006, he was convicted in Washington of second-degree robbery, attempting to elude and second-degree taking a motor vehicle. Other convictions are for drugs and theft.
According to charging papers, Peterson and Gulseth had dated for about eight months. Detectives found out from interviews with friends or acquaintances of the two that Peterson had recently decided to break off the relationship.
Gulseth reportedly had assaulted Peterson in the past and was a known drug user who became violent when he was under the influence of narcotics.
Peterson and Gulseth had an argument at the apartment the night of Dec. 20, according to a phone call to Peterson from a friend. Peterson did not answer her apartment door the next morning when friends stopped to pick her up for work.
Detectives found bloody fingerprints as well as a large kitchen knife next to Peterson’s body. Detectives found eight prints inside the apartment that belonged to Gulseth.
They also found two men’s shoes near her body, one white and black right shoe and one gray left shoe.
Police obtained video surveillance from a business near the East Hill apartment that showed a man who appeared to be Gulseth running the night of Dec. 20 toward Kent Kangley Road wearing a black vest, jeans and one black left shoe and one gray right shoe similar to the mismatched shoes found next to Peterson’s body.
Witnesses told police that a man similar to Gulseth’s description had tried to get into vehicles as they slowed down along Kent Kangley Road the night of Dec. 20 at around the same time of the video surveillance.
Peterson was a grandmother and had two grown daughters. She lived alone in the apartment.
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