A King County Superior Court judge Thursday found probable cause to hold David Nichols in jail for murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. Seattle Police announced they had arrested Nichols Wednesday for the deadly overnight stabbing at Cal Anderson Park early Sunday that left 25-year-old Rayshauna Webber dead.

His bail was set at $2,000,000. Nichols has not yet been charged in the case.

UPDATE 7/22/2019 2:54 PM: Nichols has now been charged in the murder:

David Lee Nichols has been charged with Murder in the second degree-Deadly Weapon, and Assault in the second degree-Deadly Weapon.  He will have an arraignment hearing on August 5 at 8:30AM, E1201.  Bond remains at $2,000,000.

SPD identified the suspect publicly after taking Nichols into custody thanks to video surveillance from a nearby business and credit card information from an E Pine business he patronized that night, according to court documents.

According to the court documents, two women were with the victim when she was stabbed and one was also injured in the just before 3 AM melee in the middle of Pike/Pine’s late nightlife scene. They told police the incident began when the suspect later identified as Nichols approached the group on the edge of the park and offered to light one of the women’s cigarettes. “When they declined he replied with a derogatory comment,” police write. “They said they tried to talk to him. The suspect pushed XXXXX who pushed him in the chest. At some point the suspect also ‘hit’ XXXXX. XXXXX fell down and once she was down she discovered that she was in blood that was on the ground. She then discovered that XXXXX had been stabbed and was bleeding profusely.”

Police say Nichols got into his car parked on E Pine near 10th and sped away from the scene.

With the help of security video and the credit card information, police were able to identify Nichols and included his photo in a montage shown to witnesses in the days following the murder. He was identified and taken into custody in Tacoma Wednesday. According to court records, the 50-year-old works as a truck driver and lives in Fife.

Police say Nichols admitted he was involved in the incident when he was interviewed following his arrest. “He said he produced a ‘Karambit’ knife in the course of the disturbance with the three women,” police write. “He ended up running away from the woman (sic) after one of them was stabbed. When he got to his car he saw that he had blood on his hands and on the knife.”

Police say Nichols threw the knife — a karambit is a small Indonesian curved knife resembling a claw — and its sheath out of the car window as he drove home after the deadly stabbing.

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