The Oregon man charged with first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of a Kent city employee was extradited Thursday to Washington.
William L. Phillip Jr., 30, of Portland, was booked for first-degree murder Thursday into the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to King County jail records. He is being held on $1 million bail.
Auburn Police – with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service – arrested Phillip Dec. 10 in Portland in connection with the May 21 death of Seth Frankel. Frankel, 41, a video-program coordinator for the city of Kent, was killed in his Auburn home. He was discovered the following day by a neighbor who was checking on his welfare, and who looked through a window, spotting the body.
Phillip is scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge at 9 a.m. March 21 in Courtroom GA at the Regional Justice Center, according to Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors allege that Phillip, a former boyfriend of the woman Frankel dated, drove to Auburn to kill Frankel because he was angry that someone else was dating the woman. Detectives connected Phillip to the murder through a blood-stained towel found at Frankel’s house as well as cell-phone records that put Phillip near the home May 21.
Phillip fought extradition, which delayed his return to Washington for three months.
Many suspects waive extradition, which means that a suspect agrees to go with authorities from another jurisdiction willingly, thus making an extradition hearing unnecessary. Phillip had several court hearings about his extradition.
Because Phillip fought extradition, the governors from each state had to sign papers to allow the proceeding. Phillip was being held in the Multnomah County Jail in Portland until his transfer to King County.
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