Murder-suicide suspected; 2 dead on boat in San Juans

A man whose driver's license indicates he's a Mountlake Terrace resident and a woman from the Sammamish area have both died in a suspected murder-suicide.

Coast Guard officers Wednesday afternoon boarded the man's 36-foot powerboat, which had been tracked from Friday Harbor into Presidents Channel off Orcas Island.

The identities of the two were not disclosed. San Juan County Sheriff Bill Cumming said the case was being investigated as a murder-suicide.

A 13th District Coast Guard spokesman in Seattle said the man was a Coast Guard volunteer, known as an auxiliarist.

Cumming said the Bellevue Police Department alerted the Coast Guard and the San Juan County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday that a possible homicide suspect was traveling in the San Juan Islands. Bellevue police reported that the man had notified friends by text that he had killed his girlfriend and was planning to kill himself.

Bellevue police used the man's cellphone signal to approximate his location. Coast Guard boats located the powerboat as it left Friday Harbor, Cumming said, and followed it into Presidents Channel, off the west side of Orcas Island.

A Customs/Homeland Security Protection Agency boat also joined the pursuit, Cumming said.

"When approaching the suspect vessel, the wanted subject went below despite being ordered to stay on deck," Cumming said. "Shortly thereafter, a shot was heard by responding personnel."

After boarding the boat, officers found the man still alive, but seriously wounded, the sheriff said. Coast Guard emergency crew administered CPR, he said, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cumming said the woman was found dead in the forward section of the boat, which later was taken to Friday Harbor. A search warrant was obtained, and the boat was searched for evidence, Cumming said. He said both victims appeared to be in their 40s.

Authorities speculate the woman died "much earlier" than when her body was found, Cumming said.