MARYSVILLE They dont claim to have found the culprit, but police do believe they have found someone who was present during the murder of Charles Hughley, 39, on April 13, 2005.
As of early this week, police had not identified the suspect, who was arrested and booked into Snohomish County Jail on a felony charge of rendering criminal assistance, according to a city spokesman.
The man was being held pending a $5,000 bail.
According to information released at the time of the murder, police were routinely patrolling an abandoned home regularly used by transients when they discovered Hughleys body.
The home sits in the 100 block of Beach Avenue. Hughley was stabbed to death according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiners Office.
Talking to The Globe shortly after the incident, Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux did not seem to think investigators had much to work with in terms of clues after Hughley was found.
Theres really nothing at the crime scene that would suggest a motive, Lamoureux said.
He talked about taking fingerprints from beer bottles and other similar items at the scene, but wasnt convinced they would be of much help.
Most often you have some kind of story that points you in a direction, Lamoureux said.
He described the victim as someone with a minor criminal history, including only a couple of traffic citations and one disorderly conduct charge. Theres not a lot of history there, Lamoureux said.
Despite the apparent lack of clues, in a press release put out last week, police said they had continued to work on the murder over the past three years. No details were released, but on April 9, officials said they were conducting a follow-up investigation when the learned of someone who might have been present when Hughley died. The suspect quickly was found in Stanwood and arrested.
Police reported the suspect, 26, was a transient like Hughley and may have assisted in disposing of evidence after the murder.
A police spokesman did not return a phone call requesting further information. Police still are asking anyone with information about Hughleys death to call detectives at 360-363-8326.