(WSB photo, investigators at scene, September 2017)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Following an afternoon of closing arguments, the fate of 2 people accused in the deadly 2017 shooting of Edixon Velasquez is in the hands of the jury.

We were at the courthouse downtown this afternoon as jurors listened to the final pitches from the prosecution and defense lawyers for 23-year-old Anna Kasparova and 21-year-old Abel Linares-Montejo.

They are charged in the 25-year-old victim’s death outside his home in the 8100 block of 31st SW on September 19, 2017.

The three attorneys who presented closing arguments – prosecutor Wyman Yip, Kasparova defense lawyer Suzanne Pickering, and Linares-Montejo defense lawyer Kris Shaw – offered differing scenarios.

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In West Seattle Crime Watch today, two robbery cases from the long weekend:

JUNCTION STREET ROBBERY: Thanks to the tipster who let us know about this incident early Thursday morning. We requested and obtained the report today. It happened around 12:30 am; the victim told police she had used the Chase ATM at California/Oregon and then walked into the alley, where two people approached her. One pointed a “black semi-automatic” handgun at her while the other went through her pockets. They took her phone, car and house keys, and wallet. Description: “about 27 and 29 years old … the male who pointed a gun at her was mixed race – White and Black – and about 5’8 … the male who was with him may have had a hoodie on.” Police searched but did not find the robbers. The victim called later to add one detail: One of the robbers had hit her in the face.

LUCKY 5 ROBBERY FOLLOWUP: We reported briefly last night on the holdup at the Lucky 5 gas station/mini-mart at 35th/Henderson. Today we requested and obtained the report, which has additional details: The robbers were described in the report as “four black males … wearing dark clothing, gloves and masks … At least two of the males were wearing backpacks … teens-20s, 5’7-5’9″.” They assaulted the person working in the store and knocked down displays, scattering merchandise on the floor. One held the worker at gunpoint and demanded that he open the cash drawer; the robbers also started loading their backpacks with cigarettes. One took a necklace from the person on duty, a lifelong keepsake described as gold, with “rectangular chain links, and a thin tiger pendant.” Surveillance video from outside the store shows their getaway vehicle was a “silver four-door sedan” with tinted windows.

Crime Watch miscellany to report tonight:

DELRIDGE RESPONSE: Thanks for the text on this. King County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police responded to a report of a phone-robbery attempt aboard a bus late this afternoon. We found deputies at Delridge/Orchard (above); that’s all they could tell us.

SOUTH OF THE JUNCTION: Earlier in the afternoon, we were asked about a response at 5001 California SW. The call designation for this was “commercial burglary.”

HOME BURGLARIES: Two notes as we continue tracking a recent spike in these. First, Tweets by Beat shows two more reported late today, in the 6700 block of Fauntleroy Way SW and in the 4400 block of 42nd SW. Meantime, we obtained one report from the recent incidents we’ve mentioned, for the 8200 block of Northrop. The report says burglar(s) entered by kicking in a door to the house accessible from a carport. They ransacked most of the house, stealing items including jewelry boxes and an antique sword.

STOLEN-SUBARU FOLLOWUP: On Sunday, we published Ben and Jennifer‘s report that their green Subaru Outback had been stolen. Then in another Crime Watch thread on Monday, Ben commented that Bellevue Police had found it “with a car chase and everything.” So we asked BPD for more details:

Our officers responded to a parking lot to check for a stolen vehicle at 5:14 pm on 11/25/19. The car was not there, but was located southbound on 148th Ave to WB I-90. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver fled to a dead end where he abandoned the car. Our officers were able to recover the vehicle and have leads on the suspect.

No further details about items Ben said were in the car, though.

8:49 PM: This past week, we have reported (here and here) on an increase in burglaries, primarily on the south end of the peninsula. Since last night, four more have been reported – 8200 block of Northrop (above) reported this afternoon, 8500 block of 39th SW reported this evening, and two on Delridge Way (8100 and 8400 blocks) late last night. We don’t have details of any as we haven’t heard directly from the victims, and we won’t be able to request report narratives until tomorrow, but it’s a reminder to be extra-watchful for any suspicious activity in your neighborhood, especially in the daytime, which is when most burglaries happen.

ADDED 9:06 PM: Just in from John – “We had multiple mailboxes broken into up in Arbor Heights in the 100xx block of 39th Ave SW on Monday sometime between 5:00 and 8:30 PM.” It’s been reported to police and the Postal Inspection Service, John adds.

Ben and Jennifer hope someone will see their metallic green 2017 Subaru Outback, stolen from in front of their house overnight in the 3200 block of 47th SW. Plates are National Park 10222. If you see it, call 911.

MONDAY NIGHT: Ben says the car’s been found – by Bellevue Police.

Back on Wednesday, we reported on a spike in residential burglaries in West Seattle. After a comment on that story tonight, reporting another break-in, we checked back with the Tweets by Beat log, and note that it’s continuing, with at least six residential break-ins in the past two days, all on the south half of the peninsula:

-8100 block 29th SW
-8800 block 16th SW
-7700 block 28th SW
-7800 block 39th SW (as reported in the aforementioned comment)
-7500 block California SW
-4000 block Othello

After the last story, Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Danner asked that we remind you she offers “free residential safety/security assessments, as well as burglary follow-ups” – she’s at jennifer.danner@seattle.gov – in case you’re not sure your home is as burglary-resistant as it could be.

(WSB photo, September 2017)

Two years after 25-year-old Edixon Velasquez was shot dead in the street outside his Westwood home, the two people charged in his murder are on trial.

After multiple questions about how the trial was going, we were finally able to go to court today, the only way to get that answer.

King County Superior Court Judge Kristin Richardson, a former prosecutor, is presiding over the trial of 23-year-old Anna Kasparova and 21-year-old Abel Linares-Montejo. Kasparova is the victim’s former girlfriend; Linares-Montejo is a subsequent boyfriend of hers, and described in court documents as believed to be the father of the baby she delivered in May of last year, eight months after the murder.

Prosecutors allege that they went to Velasquez’s house on September 19th, 2017, with the intent of robbing him; after Kasparova lured the victim outside, they say, Linares shot him twice. She was arrested the next day; he was arrested two weeks later.

The trial started in late October with jury selection. The prosecution called three witnesses while we were there today. The first was a records custodian from Facebook/Instagram, verifying records the company turned over from social-media messaging allegedly related to the case. The other two were a close friend of Linares and the friend’s cousin, both now 21 years old; they were both residents of an Auburn mobile-home park at the time of the murder. They spoke about visiting Alki earlier on the day of the shooting – not with Linares – but then catching up with him much later, after the shooting, and being present when police arrested him two weeks later. Questioning also centered on whether the alleged robbery attempt was planned, all the way down to a slang term used in messaging that might have indicated a plan.

The trial is expected to last at least through next week, Judge Richardson noted this afternoon. Testimony continues tomorrow morning but it will be a half-day, she also said. The trial briefs filed by both sides show a very short list of possible defense witnesses, including potentially the defendants themselves.

Early Saturday, we reported on a police investigation following 911 calls about gunfire in the 1900 block of Harbor Avenue SW. Officers found shell casings and blood near an empty vehicle – but no victim – in a parking lot. Today we followed up with SPD. Spokesperson Det. Mark Jamieson tells WSB that “A short time later, a male victim arrived at Swedish Hospital stating that he was in a physical fight, got pistol whipped, and suffered a large laceration to the back of the head. According to the victim, during the fight an unknown subject fired several rounds into the air.”

In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

WESTWOOD VILLAGE CAR PROWL: Reader report received this evening:

I was the victim of a car prowl outside 24 Hour Fitness last night (11/16) between 7:30pm-8:50pm. It was disappointing because it was my first real visit to the gym after starting a membership earlier in the week.

When I left the gym, I found the driver-side window of my car smashed in, and some Seattle Public Library CD’s and personal CD’s in the passenger seat that were taken. Nothing of real value, but now I’m stuck with cost of replacing the broken window, which is money I don’t have.

When I went back inside the gym to report the incident to employees behind the front desk, one of them asked, “Did you park on the Marshall’s side?”. I said yes, and he said there had been at least 4 recent car break-ins in that same area of the parking lot.

We checked Tweets by Beat – which, it should be noted, does have gaps – and found four car-prowl calls logged to WWV addresses since Oct. 1st.

CAR PROWL/THEFT PREVENTION: This month’s educational bulletin from Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner focuses on those two crimes – read it here (PDF) or below:

SHOTGUN SUSPECT FOLLOWUP: One update in a case we’ve been following – that of 48-year-old Michael J. Mullen, who originally made news in a June incident involving a “heavily altered” shotgun. Four weeks ago, we reported that he was back in jail, charged with misdemeanor domestic-violence harassment after an incident involving a roommate. Checking online court records, we see that case has since been dismissed but he was kept in custody on a “remand” in the gun case. Now he’s been found incompetent to stand trial and ordered to spend up to 45 days at Western State Hospital for attempted competency restoration.

The photo is from Steve, who hopes you will be on the lookout for his car, stolen overnight from Arrowhead Gardens in southeast West Seattle. It’s a Subaru Legacy Wagon, plates ARP2064, gray with cracked windshield and scrapes and dents, and he discovered it missing just as he needed to leave for work this morning. He adds, “Just got my Good to Go sticker and it has an SHAG Arrowhead Gardens sticker on the back window.” If you see it, call 911.

Phil reports his 2017 gray Kia Sorento SXL was stolen from his driveway on Wright Avenue SW north of Lincoln Park last night. License #KJF9263, “matching scratches on middle passenger doors on left and right sides.” If you see it, call 911.

(WSB photo, Sunday night)

Busy weekend in West Seattle Crime Watch coverage. We followed up today on a Sunday night case in which two suspects were arrested, the burglary at an under-construction home in the 5600 block of Beach Drive. The 36-year-old male suspect tracked down by a K-9 team remains in jail, bail set at $2,000. The jail register shows it’s his fifth booking this year; the others were related to warrants. The 53-year-old female suspect does not have recent bookings but does have a decade-plus record of arrests. Both are facing burglary charges; she also is facing a possible drug charge, as police found a baggie of suspected meth in her purse. The police report reveals that a major factor in their inability to make a getaway was that their pickup truck was stuck in the “wet, deep, slippery mud” at the construction site. One other note: The report also explains why SFD was called to the scene – the male suspect claimed he had “overdosed,” but he was eventually cleared for jail booking. The report indicates the burglary was interrupted before anything was removed from the construction site.