Authorities piece together details of deadly rampage

The homes in tiny Alger are isolated — the smallest lot is five acres and most are heavily wooded — so neighbors might not hear a scream or a gunshot.

The solitude may partly explain how it happened that a killer was able to stalk the Skagit County community Tuesday, moving among the homes where he killed a sheriff's deputy, a pair of construction workers, a middle-aged woman and an older man.

A sixth victim was found dead behind the wheel of his car in the median of Interstate 5 near where police say 28-year-old Isaac Zamora opened fire on a Washington State Patrol trooper who was giving chase.

Four other people were injured, including the 56-year-old husband of Julie Binschus who was killed and a 61-year-old man who suffered stab wounds. A motorcyclist was shot in the arm and the trooper, Troy Giddings, suffered a grazing gunshot wound before backing off the chase.

More than a day after the slayings, as dozens of detectives processed eight separate crime scenes, police still weren't ready to say how the rampage unfolded or the motivation behind it, said spokesman Sgt. Robert Goetz of the Everett Police Department.

Goetz said today that police have completed the investigation of all but two locations and have impounded four vehicles. He also said that all but one of the victims' bodies will be taken to Snohomish County for autopsies and that could involve a procession on Interstate 5 this afternoon.

Goetz said charges are expected to be filed against Zamora by 4 p.m. Friday.

"This is a complex and enormous crime scene," Goetz said Wednesday. The police work stopped briefly Wednesday afternoon as silent officers lined the roadway as a motorcade escorted the body of Skagit County sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson to a local funeral home.

Police have released the identities of the others who were slain: Chester Rose, 58; David Radcliffe, 57, of Clear Lake; Greg Gillum, 38, of Mount Vernon; Julie Binschus, 48; and Leroy Lange, 64, of Methow, Okanogan County.

Police are not saying yet how Jackson was killed. Goetz repeatedly declined to say whether she was disarmed or whether her weapon had been used by the killer. Goetz would say only that the deputy's sidearm "has been accounted for" along with several other firearms.

Family and neighbors described Zamora as violent and unpredictable, a deeply disturbed man who had lived in Alger most of his life. He has an extensive criminal history and has been hospitalized for mental illness in the past.

Zamora is being held for investigation of six counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. His bail was set at $5 million. No criminal charges have been filed.

Friends and family say Zamora's behavior had been increasingly erratic.

His mother, Dennise Zamora, said Wednesday that Jackson had been to Alger twice in previous days to investigate reports that Isaac was walking into peoples' homes uninvited. Jackson was familiar with Isaac Zamora and his behavior, and Dennise said the deputy had told her to call if she needed help.

Jackson, she said, had been to her house on Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, she said, another neighbor — she identified him as "Chet," apparently referring to neighbor Chester Rose — called to say Isaac was in his home. Chet, she said, was apologetic but Dennise told him to call police.

Jackson responded to the Zamora home at 2:50 p.m.

"She [Jackson] stood in my door and she touched my arm again and said, 'Is he here? It's OK. I know what you're going through,' " Dennise Zamora said. Zamora said she sent Jackson to Rose's home, where Jackson's body was found by fellow deputies two hours later along with that of an as-yet unidentified man.

"It cost her her life," Dennise Zamora said.

Zamora became increasingly concerned as sheriff's dispatchers called her home looking for Jackson, whom they couldn't reach on the radio.

Goetz said that additional deputies were dispatched. They came under fire at Rose's home at 4:10 p.m., Goetz said.

Dennise Zamora's longtime friend and neighbor, Shirley Wenrick, said Isaac was resentful that he had been banned from the house at night because his parents feared him following years of erratic behavior. In recent weeks, Isaac Zamora had taken to curling up in a sleeping bag in neighbors' yards and would wander the streets at all hours, she said.

Wenrick said Isaac Zamora also often clashed with a 9-year-old boy whom his mother was caring for and that she had been told that the two had argued Tuesday morning. Dennise Zamora denied there had been a confrontation.

Isaac Zamora, Wenrick said, routinely confronted neighbors and ranted about his parents. He was disdainful and seemed jealous that they had homes or other possessions, she said.

"I don't know why I'm alive. I don't know how I escaped death," Wenrick said. "He ran into all those homes and killed everyone. Why not me? It could have been me. This will haunt me the rest of my life."

Contributors to this story include Seattle Times reporters Jennifer Sullivan, Steve Miletich, Michael Berens, Peyton Whitely, Sara Jean Green, Maureen O'Hagan and news researcher Miyoko Wolf