Man arrested on suspicion of murder in woman's death

A Mountlake Terrace man is behind bars for an alarming attack on a woman using a baseball bat.

Police say he killed his late son's girlfriend and then confessed to a 911 operator hours later.

“I think he just snapped,” neighbor Jim Danson said.

Danson has lived next door to 43-year-old David Nieuwenhuis for several years.

“Very nice person really. We had our little problems but nothing to cause him to go off the deep end hurting somebody,” Danson added.

But police say Nieuwenhuis confessed to the murder. He said he lost his 25-year-old son to a drug overdose last week and blamed his son's 29-year-old girlfriend for the death.

The three were living together for the past year and she returned to pick up her belongings around 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

That's when they got into a fight.

“He struck her with a wooden bat-like object, chased her into the yard and it looks like, in a rage fueled assault, killed her,” said Mountlake Terrace Police Commander Doug Hansen.

But police say he left her out on the driveway all night and claims to have gone to sleep until he finally called to report what happened just after midnight.

“Extreme total shock,” described neighbor and friend Ric Ford. “Don't know what to say.”

Ford's family owns the home Nieuwenhuis was renting. Ford also lives right behind him.

“The guy is a nice guy. Could never see that out of him or anything,” Ford said.

Neighbors confirm that Kyle Johnson  was Nieuwenhuis' stepson. An online obituary also identifies Nieuwenhuis as his stepfather.

“I think it was - his son died. His wife died also before. And I think it was just enough all that stuff - he finally lost it,” Danson said,

KIRO 7 learned this is not Nieuwenhuis' first run in with the law. The Washington Department of Corrections gave KIRO 7 this photo of Nieuwenhuis taken back in 2003. In 1999, he was sentenced in Snohomish County for incest.

Nieuwenhuis is currently in the Snohomish County Jail booked on second-degree murder.

Scroll down to continue reading

More news from KIRO 7

• Grandpa shoots, kills grandson in domestic violence incident
• Mom reunited with son who was abducted in 1987
• Police: Mechanic killed customer with hammer before shooting him, setting him on fire
• Gun shop owners expect sales increase after rifle initiative
• Do you have an investigative story tip? Send us an email at investigate@kiro7.com

Cox Media Group