The Blotter
The Times' criminal justice team looks behind the scenes and behind the headlines.
Police: Bellevue man's death in fire not homicide
Posted by John de Leon
-- From Times staff reporter Sara Jean Green:
A 40-year-old man who died Saturday after suffering severe burns in a mysterious fire was not a victim of homicide, but investigators still don't know if his death was an accident or a suicide, according to Bellevue police.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday identified the man as Benito Jorge Gonzalez-Hernandez. His cause and manner of death are still pending, according to a death investigator.
Around 5 p.m. Saturday, several people came to the man's aid after they saw him on fire along the road in the 14000 block of Southeast 36th Street in Bellevue, said Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate. The witnesses used water and a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, but Gonzalez-Hernandez died later that night from his injuries.
A melted gas can was found in a bag that Gonzalez-Hernandez was carrying, Iafrate said.
"There was no one around him prior to him going up in flames," she said. "It was either an accident or a suicide. We don't know which one it is."
Gonzalez-Hernandez, who was single, lived in Bellevue several years ago before he moved to Indianapolis. He had moved back to Bellevue two months ago, Iafrate said. He lived only a few blocks from where he was fatally burned, she said.
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