New details show history of domestic violence orders against man last seen with missing Burien woman

SEATTLE — KIRO 7 has uncovered alarming new details about Brett Michael Gitchel, the man who was last seen with 58-year-old Leticia Martinez-Cosman.

Gitchel has multiple protection orders against him in King County, including one from his own mother. She filed the order back in 2017 and claims that her son threatened to kill her on several occasions, even threatening to bash in her head.

The ending of her written statement reads, “I am too afraid to do anything about him. I am afraid he will kill me. I can’t take it anymore.”

In 1997, a woman who had dated Gitchel also filed a protection order. She told police he threatened to kill her and burn her apartment down if she ever left him. He also demanded to spend time with her son and even threw him down a hallway.

While Gitchel is connected to the disappearance of Martinez-Cosman, he has not been charged for her disappearance. She was last seen on March 31 at a Mariners game at T-Mobile Park.

Earlier in the week, detectives with Seattle police who are looking for Martinez-Cosman discovered human remains in Renton. The remains were located a mile and a half away from where her son allegedly escaped Gitchel.

On Friday morning, Martinez-Cosman’s brother confirmed to KIRO 7 that the remains were identified as Leticia Martinez-Cosman.

According to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, Martinez-Cosman died on April 1. Her cause of death was due to asphyxiation due to strangulation. It was ruled a homicide.

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