Bail for double murder suspect set at $2.1M despite attorney's 'no evidence' claim

SEATTLE, Wash. — The lawyer for a man suspected of killing two women – including his grandmother - told a judge there's no evidence linking his client to the crimes, so he should be let out of jail.

Marcus Naylor, of Northwest Defenders, told King County Superior Court Judge Mark Chow in a downtown Seattle jail courtroom Thursday that he disagreed with probable cause arguments that his client, Zachary Damien Craven, had anything to do with the murders of two women earlier this week. Craven was arrested early Wednesday and is suspected of shooting 59-year old Angelika Hayden in Skyway and 21-year old Meagan Smith in Renton.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Aubony Burns argued for a high bail, claiming a piggy bank connects Craven to Smith's death. Burns said the fact Craven is Hayden's grandson and has threatened to kill her before connects him to her death.

According to court documents, both women died of gunshot wounds to the head.

When Smith was found inside a Renton home where she was house-sitting late Tuesday, her body was near a piggy bank. Investigators allege Craven had demanded the contents of that bank from Smith's friend, who lives in the Renton home. That young woman and Craven once dated. 

"The only thing out of place was that piggy bank," Burns said in open court. "This piggy bank was the same item in question the defendant and the ex-girlfriend had talked about prior to her vacation."

Smith was a 2012 graduate of Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien and was to be a senior at Western Washington University in Bellingham this fall. Her only link to Craven was her friend who once dated him.

Hayden, Craven's grandmother, was also found shot to death Tuesday.  Police believe the same weapon killed both women.  According to court documents, investigators also believe Craven used the same .22-caliber gun to threaten Robert Luxton, who was like a grandfather to the suspect. Luxton spoke with KIRO 7 reporter Rob Munoz and said earlier this week Craven "held a pistol pointed to my head."

Naylor told the judge what investigators presented during Craven's bail hearing in order to keep his client behind bars was simply speculation. 

"There isn't a single bit of evidence tying Mr. Craven to those two homicides," he said.

Chow disagreed and ordered Craven held on a $2.1 million bail.

KIRO