Kent-area man charged with murder in 3-year-old stepdaughter's death

A Kent-area man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the drowning death of a 3-year-old girl in December 2003.

King County prosecutors have charged Joel Zellmer, 37, with first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the case of Ashley McLellan. He also has been charged with first-degree theft for allegedly defrauding the state Department of Labor and Industries.

On Dec. 3, 2003, Zellmer reported finding the girl floating in their family pool.

Ashley never regained consciousness and died two days later, said sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart.

Zellmer persuaded the girl's mother, to whom he was married at the time, to take out a $200,000 insurance policy on the toddler, according to the King County Sheriff's Office.

Zellmer was arrested around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at his home in the 22000 block of 159th Avenue Southeast. He has been booked into the King County Jail for investigation of murder. He is being held in lieu of $5 million bail.

No one answered at the home this morning.

Since Ashley's death, Zellmer and the girl's mother, Stacey Ferguson, have divorced, said Urquhart. The couple had been married three months when Ashley died.

Ferguson issued a statement today which read: "As a single mother with a small child, many of us hope for a partner to go through life with and for a father figure that will help set a good example for our children. Mr. Zellmer understood that only too well and he took advantage of my trust and hope."

Andrew Schwarz, Zellmer's attorney, said the charges were filed because Ashley's mother, father and other relatives were out to get Zellmer.

"They've [prosecutors and law enforcement] known about this for years. The King County Sheriff's Office has investigated and closed it twice, calling it an accidental death. The King County Medical Examiner is calling it a wrongful death," Schwarz said.

Sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said investigators have been investigating Zellmer in connection with the girl's death for years.

Urquhart said the arrest and charges took more than three years because the investigation was complex. He said that to make the case, detectives looked into other allegations of child abuse and insurance fraud involving Zellmer. But Zellmer is not being charged in connection with any of the prior incidents involving children in his care, Urquhart said.

"It's part of the circumstantial evidence that points to this particular crime," Urquhart said. "It's a pattern of abuse toward children and insurance fraud."

In 1990, Zellmer allegedly tried to collect $25,000 in uninsured motorist coverage after he claimed the 4-month-old son of his then-wife was hurt in a hit-and-run accident.

When Zellmer first took the baby to the hospital, an examination showed that the child wasn't hurt. Three days later, when he returned to the hospital with the infant, the child had at least one bone fracture, Urquhart said.

That insurance claim was dropped after Zellmer's then-wife told the insurance company that there had never been an accident. She said she saw Zellmer damage his car and try to make it appear it was damaged in a rear-end collision, Urquhart said.

In 2000, Zellmer was dating a woman whose infant son was injured while in Zellmer's care.

The woman told authorities that when she found the child, who was not yet a year old and couldn't walk, soaking wet, Zellmer claimed that the child crawled into the hot tub, Urquhart said. The hot tub was covered by a heavy lid.

The woman said that Zellmer forbid her from changing the child into warm clothes or holding him for about a half-hour, Urquhart said.

About three months later, the child's mother came home and found the boy's hand burned and blistered. She said Zellmer told her that her son was burned by the fireplace glass doors, and he refused to let her take the child to the doctor, Urquhart said.

Two days later, the woman snuck the boy to the doctor's office and found that he had second-degree burns, Urquhart said.

In 2002, Zellmer was engaged to a 22-year-old single mother with a 4-year-old daughter.

Shortly after their engagement, Zellmer told his fiancée he needed to get life insurance for her and her daughter.

The woman broke off the engagement after finding a hand-shaped bruise on the girl and after the girl fell into the swimming pool while Zellmer was baby-sitting, Urquhart said.

The following spring, in 2003, Zellmer started dating a woman with a 3-year-old daughter. He suggested that the woman and child obtain life-insurance polices, Urquhart said. The woman broke off the relationship not long afterward.

In addition to Ashley McLellan's murder, Zellmer is also charged with first-degree theft.

This charge stems from Zellmer allegedly defrauding the state Department of Labor and Industries of more than $193,000 in the past 5-½ years. Zellmer claimed that he can't work due to a head injury, Urquhart said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com