Accused in stabbings expected to face aggravated first-degree murder charges

MomSeattle · DadSeattle · SPI · MySeattlePix · My account

Local

US/World

Sports

Business

A&E

Life

Comics

Photos

Opinion

Blogs

Buy Ads

Jobs

Autos

Homes

Rentals

NWsource

Local

Friday, July 21, 2006

Accused in stabbings expected to face aggravated first-degree murder charges

By TRACY JOHNSON AND JOHN IWASAKI
P-I REPORTERS


	Schierman

A man accused of stabbing two women and two children told police he awoke from an alcohol-induced blackout to find himself covered in blood inside the victims' home and then set it ablaze, according to investigators.

In a Seattle courtroom Thursday, Conner Schierman, 24, had two dark scratches across his face and two more across his neck -- marks that investigators said suggested that at least one of the victims fought back.

As Schierman remains in jail on $4 million bail, King County prosecutors expect to file four counts of aggravated first-degree murder against the Kirkland man on Monday -- charges that raise the possibility that they will seek the death penalty.


		KOMO TV
	Sgt. Leonid Milkin stands with friends and family outside his home in Kirkland on Thursday. He's "holding up amazingly," a friend said.

As police continued to investigate, trying to uncover any comprehensible reason why the two women and two children were killed, details emerged about the suspect who lived just across the street from them.

Court records suggest Schierman was suicidal as a teenager and was treated for depression, and his apparent struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction are documented at length on a Web page at MySpace.com.

He went to Bellevue's Newport High School, where a yearbook listed him with the class of 2000.

Since February 2005, Schierman has been a maintenance worker for Carillon Properties, which operates the upscale Woodmark Hotel at Carillon Point in Kirkland. He did a good job and was "a nice kid," said Carillon Property general manager Barb Leland.

"We're just as upset as everybody else is," she said.

The fire broke out just after 11:30 a.m. Monday in the two-story home on Forbes Lake, part of a tree-lined neighborhood along Interstate 405. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and found the bodies, turning the investigation into Kirkland's worst homicide case in years.

On Thursday, investigators spent the day combing the area around the duplex where the suspect lives.

Deputy Prosecutor Scott O'Toole said Schierman had no apparent relationship to the victims, and he predicted that finding a motive for the crimes would be "extremely difficult."

"The physical evidence has been compromised because of the fire," O'Toole said. "The damage to the victims' bodies was pretty horrendous, and pretty complete."

The scratches on Schierman's face -- along with his tattoos -- helped lead police to him. Two witnesses reported seeing a man with similar markings near the deadly fire, investigators wrote in court documents.

After Schierman's arrest Wednesday, he told police the scratches and a puncture wound on his arm came from breaking up a fight at a convenience store early Tuesday, though store surveillance footage showed that wasn't true, investigators wrote in court documents.

Police say Schierman told them he drank heavily on Sunday night and Monday morning, blacking out, and woke up in the victim's home.

Investigators believe he took a shower there to clean the blood from himself and swiped some fresh clothes before lighting the house on fire, according to a law-enforcement source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Schierman told police he doused the house with gasoline and lit it to cover up the slayings, according to a police report.

The women's bodies were found in an upstairs bedroom and the children's bodies were found in the hallway, the source said.

Authorities identified the four as Olga Milkin, 28; her sister, Lyubov Botvina, 24; and Milkin's two sons, Justin, 5, and Andrew, 3. Police say the two women and 5-year-old were stabbed multiple times, while the youngest child's throat was slit.

On Thursday afternoon, Milkin's husband, National Guard Sgt. Leonid Milkin, who was serving in Iraq when his family was killed, briefly toured the charred home.

Dressed in camouflage fatigues and boots, the 29-year-old soldier stood by a growing memorial where friends and relatives had placed buckets and pots of roses, daisies, scented candles, a toy pickup truck and a cross bearing color photos of the victims.

Later, circled by friends and relatives, the soldier hugged his wife's parents tightly before leaving in a black civilian SUV.

In court, King County District Court Judge D. Mark Eide found sufficient reason to keep Schierman locked up -- despite his attorney's protest that the police report's allegations were vague -- and set bail at $4 million.


		Mike Kane / P-I
	Friends and family of defendant Conner Schierman, including sister Kinsey, 20, third from left, look on during his court appearance at the King County Jail on Thursday. Bail was set at $4 million.

The man's friends and family watched in the crowded courtroom, some of them sobbing as he was brought in with his arms and legs in shackles. They declined to talk to reporters afterward.

Schierman "has support in the community" and appears to have no criminal record whatsoever, making the crime he's accused of committing all the more shocking, said his attorney, James Conroy.

He said it was a tragic situation, and that he had "a lot to learn about my client and the circumstances of this case."

It's unclear whether Schierman suffers from any mental problems. In court documents for his parents' divorce, his mother wrote in 1999 that both he and his younger sister had suffered "serious emotional difficulties relating to their father's alcoholism and the divorce."

Her son, then 17, "was so affected by these events that he became suicidal" and was "being treated for depression and is attending an alternative high school," she wrote.

Schierman's mother, who is remarried and lives in Bellevue, did not return phone calls about her son's situation. His father could not be reached, though he acknowledged in the same divorce record that he'd struggled with both alcoholism and sleep apnea.

On a page under Schierman's name on MySpace.com, the writer -- purportedly the suspect -- has recently written about struggles with alcohol and drugs.

"I am my own worst enemy. I am human," the page read. "All of the things I am or have been have woven the fabric that is me; a patchwork of experiences and emotions, trials and errors, loves and losses."

Some entries on the page were also tinged with a melancholy and weary-voiced thankfulness for the good in his world.

Friends who visited the Web page left supportive comments for Schierman. A message left Thursday morning, apparently from his sister, read: "I love you more than life, Conner."

The page indicates that he graduated from Newport High in Bellevue in 2000, though Bellevue School District officials could not confirm it Thursday. His crew cut photo appears with the senior class, although he is referred to as a junior on another page. While many of his classmates' photos are accompanied by a list of their activities, nothing appears next to his name.

The yearbook quotes him on the way he cooled down so he could study better: "Drink cold water and take deep breaths. It totally chills me out."

Carl McGavran, manager of the Sierra Fish & Pet store in Factoria, said Schierman worked for him on and off for about six years. Schierman was promoted to assistant manager but left his job more than a year ago to check himself into drug and alcohol rehabilitation, MacGavran said.

He said the two developed a friendship and stayed in touch even after Schierman stopped working for him. McGavran said he last saw Schierman at the end of last month when they played pool together. He said Schierman talked about rehabilitation and having just moved out of a halfway house.

"He seemed in really good shape. He talked about moving into some new place. He said his job was going well, that he was still sober. He seemed totally upbeat when I saw him last," McGavran said.

He said Schierman was personable and that some of his customers still ask for him, McGavran said.

"Up until this, I would say he was a good guy. I'm just in shock," he said.

Aggravated murder is Washington's most serious crime. It will be up to Prosecutor Norm Maleng whether to seek the death penalty, a decision that could be months away. The only other possibility is life in prison.

Aggravated murder charges can apply when there are multiple victims or when the perpetrator tries to conceal the crime with means such as arson.

A memorial service is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Sunday at The City Church, 9051 132nd Ave. N.E., Kirkland. Several Russian churches will collaborate in the service with The City Church, which the Milkins attended for several years.

The news of their deaths was announced to the congregation at a Wednesday night service.

"You could hear the collective gasp," said Rick Kraker, the church's pastoral care pastor, who said Olga Milkin's family emigrated from Russia in the early 1990s.

Kraker recalled how Justin Milkin, 5, rode on the church's float in Kirkland's July 4 celebration, singing patriotic songs.

Leonid Milkin is "holding up amazingly," said John Petrus, husband of Olga Milkin's younger sister, Vita. "He's a very strong Christian."

Vita Petrus described her sister and the soldier as "lovebirds."

"She loved him deeply, and he loved her greatly as well," she said.

P-I reporters Jon Naito, Scott Gutierrez, Debera Carlton Harrell and Blythe Lawrence contributed to this report. P-I reporter Tracy Johnson can be reached at 206-467-5942 or tracyjohnson@seattlepi.com.

Add P-I Local headlines to