Triple-slaying motive apparently was robbery

The apparent motive behind the execution-style slayings of three young people in a Tacoma home earlier this month was robbery, according to the Pierce County prosecutor handling the case.

An 18-year-old Tacoma man was booked into the Pierce County Jail late Wednesday on suspicion of three counts of aggravated first-degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Lindy A. Cochran, 21, of Auburn, and Daniel Varo, 22, and Darren S. Christian, 28, both of Tacoma.

A friend found the three dead inside Christian's rental house in the 600 block of South Union Avenue on Feb. 8. All three had been shot in the head from close range.

Homicide charges are expected to be filed against the 18-year-old Monday, according to the prosecutor's office.

A second man, a 24-year-old, who is in custody on two unrelated assault charges, is considered a suspect in the killings, said Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum. Police are also looking for a third suspect, a man in his 30s, he said.

The Seattle Times generally does not name suspects until they are charged.

On Thursday, prosecutor Gerald Costello presented a two-page declaration to a judge, requesting that the 18-year-old be held without bail for 72 hours to give police more time to determine the extent of his involvement in the shootings.

According to Costello's declaration, the 18-year-old agreed to participate in an armed robbery of Christian, who "routinely carried large amounts of cash on his person" and who had a safe inside his house. The man allegedly gave a handgun to his accomplices and acted as "a lookout," talking to the others by cellphone while they were inside Christian's house, Costello wrote.

The others returned the gun to the man after the shootings and gave him $1,000 from Christian's safe, which has been taken from the house and has yet to be recovered, the declaration says.

Fulghum said the man's "name popped up" during the early stages of the homicide investigation. Detectives brought him to the Tacoma police station Wednesday for an interview "and based on that conversation and other information they had, they booked him into the jail," he said.

Fulghum said the 24-year-old also is accused of shooting two men, one in October and the other in January. Both those victims survived, he said.

He was interviewed by detectives following the Tacoma triple-homicide and officers recognized him as a suspect in the earlier shootings, Fulghum said.

Jail records show he was booked into the Pierce County Jail on Feb. 8 on suspicion of two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of violating conditions of his release last fall from prison after his 1998 conviction on a first-degree assault charge. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com