SULTAN — A man suspected of beating and strangling another man to death last week was arrested Sunday in Spokane.
He allegedly was driving the victim’s car and headed to Idaho. Prosecutors on Monday charged David Magnett Jr., 48, with second-degree murder. He is expected to be booked into the Snohomish County Jail in coming days.
Magnett allegedly told detectives he killed Donald Hosier, 62, because of how the older man treated women, particularly one of Magnett’s friends.
“The motive for the murder appears to be the defendant’s attempt to protect a female friend of his,” Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Craig Matheson wrote in charging papers.
Hosier’s body was found last Thursday near a trail on some wooded property off 132nd Street SE. Several people live on the property in tents and travel trailers.
Officers found an aluminum bat near Hosier’s head. His wallet was nearby.
A witness told detectives Magnett became upset after she showed him a series of unwelcome text messages she received from Hosier. The woman, who lives at a campsite, later told Magnett and others that Hosier might have been riffling through her belongings.
Magnett allegedly told the group that he was going to check on the site. He was gone about 15 minutes. Witnesses said he returned sweaty and out of breath and told the group that Hosier attacked him with a bat. Magnett said he defended himself and “choked (Hosier) out,” Matheson wrote.
Later that morning Magnett allegedly told his friend that she didn’t have to worry about Hosier bothering her anymore. Magnett allegedly left the area in the slain man’s car.
After his arrest, detectives interviewed Magnett, who said he’d put the victim in a headlock until he went limp. Magnett said he had “no regrets,” Matheson wrote.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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