FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Police announced Tuesday that three suspects are in custody in a series of four random murders that happened two years ago in Federal Way.
Federal Way Police Chief Andy J. Hwang says one suspect - who was 17 at the time of the murders - is the primary suspect in all four homicides.
RELATED: Detectives say one suspect committed four 2016 Federal Way murders
Investigators are recommending that Justice Henderson be charged with four counts of first-degree murder and two counts of robbery.
The murders all happened in April and May of 2016.
One victim, 30-year-old Navy veteran Adam Gutierrez, was killed on May 10, 2016, while he was jogging with his dog. Gutierrez was the third homicide victim within 48 hours.
Federal Way Police say Justice Henderson was 17 when he murdered 4 men in Federal Way. At 5pm how police connected him and two accomplices to the random killings. >> https://t.co/N22fQSHAtF @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/3HN6GFvIwv
— Alison Grande (@AlisonKIRO7) May 15, 2018
The day before Gutierrez was killed, 27-year-old Frank Cohens was shot to death in his car.
Police also found 26-year-old Alex Kelley dead inside his apartment that night, and on April 3, 19-year-old Jeffery McLaren was shot to death, too.
Henderson has been in custody since July 11, 2016 for an attempted murder in Pierce County on May 4, 2016. He was later convicted and is serving a 12-year sentence.
Federal Way authorities said they had identified Henderson as a potential suspect in the four murders at about the same time he was arrested in 2016, but investigators held off on releasing his identity to the public or charging him with the homicides because he was already in custody and was not a danger to the public.
Hwang said by doing so, Federal Way investigators and King County prosecutors were able to thoroughly investigate and build cases against Henderson and his two accomplices.
Marchae Garrison, who was also 17 at the time, was arrested in the death of Jeffery McClaren on April 3, 2016. Investigators are recommending that he be charged with one count each of first-degree murder and robbery.
Investigators are recommending that Kamajah (K.J.) Skannal, who was 20 at the time of his alleged part in the crimes, be charged with one count each of first-degree murder and robbery in the death of Frank Cohens on May 9, 2016.
Investigators have not yet identified a motive in the murders.
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