As part of an upgrade of the department’s online presence, Seattle Police have included a new Catch a Killer page tracking the city’s unsolved murders. The arrival of a homicide investigation in the “unsolved” category represents a journey through the mystery of violent acts. The criminal act itself must leave no immediate presence of the suspect or witness to the act. The subsequent weeks and months must produce no useful leads as forensic and DNA evidence is analyzed and processed. It’s a long, tragic path. Two Capitol Hill cases make the list that features crimes that have gone unsolved since 2010. Details on the cases — and a third from the area in 2009 — are below.
Victim: Zachary Lewis
CASE # 11-75005
Zachary Lewis was beaten to death in a vacant lot at 11th Avenue and E. Republican Street on Capitol Hill on March 6, 2011.
- CHS reported extensively on the mysterious murder of Zachary Lewis after he was found beaten to death in the lot that will someday be Broadway Hill Park. Lewis, a resident of an Eastlake “supportive housing” facility, had been the victim of a savage beating — both arms were reportedly broken. A reward was offered for more information in the case but a suspect has never been publicly identified.
A note left as part of a memorial to Lewis in the lot where his body was found (Image: CHS)
Victim: Darek Darewski
DATE: January 17, 2012
TIME: 11:20 PM
CASE # 12-16907
Darek Darewski left his native Poland 20 years ago and came to the US, where he later took up work as a fisherman in Alaska.
Darek was shot to death several blocks from his Capitol Hill apartment, near Harvard Avenue and E. Olive Street, around 11:20 pm on January 17, 2012. The gunman fled the scene.
- Our most recent coverage of the shooting death of Darek Darewski documented what little was publicly known about the case. Darewski’s last moments he was gunned down on the sidewalk behind Seattle Central were partially captured by the school’s security cameras. A possible suspect vehicle can be seen arriving at and speeding away from the scene. But the video clues evidently didn’t generate enough information for an arrest in the six-month-old case. A friend told CHS that Darewski was preparing to head back to Alaska to continue his work as a fisherman.
The snowy night Darewski was gunned down on Harvard Ave (Image: CHS)
Ilona, another friend of Darewski from his days in his native Poland, wrote to CHS following our most recent report:
Darek was buried in his hometown in Poland. We, his firiends there, had not heard about him since he left Poland in the hardest time in our country in 80s – SOLIDARNOŚĆ fighting for our rights. He was a mistery. For all of us his death is very sad. I do not know anything about his life in the last thirty years, but I can tell he was a loyal and helpful friend when we were at school and college in Wrocław. We all here believe that the American Police can find who killed Darek.
- One final investigation to include. Chris Thompson’s unsolved murder falls off the SPD Catch a Killer list’s 2010 limit but his mysterious killing in the basement of his E Roanoke home remains unsolved. The 55-year-old was found dead of an apparent knife wound. SPD categorizes the investigation as “HOMICIDE-PREMEDITATED” and lists the investigation as open.
Victim: Chris Thompson
DATE: January 21, 2009
TIME: 12:00 AM
