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Prosecutors Charge Christopher Leahy With First-Degree Murder in UW Student Stabbing

Prosecutors say they lack evidence of a hate crime, with motive still under review.

Overview

  • Leahy, 31, was charged Monday with first-degree murder with a deadly-weapon enhancement and remains jailed on $10 million bail.
  • Investigators say laundry-room video showed a man track the camera’s power cord, and detectives later found the device unplugged with Leahy’s fingerprints on the door.
  • Charging papers allege he stalked another student through the apartment complex and was recorded trying to enter campus buildings and private homes in Seattle’s Ravenna area.
  • Prosecutors say the evidence does not currently support a hate-crime charge, and detectives are still working to determine why the killing occurred.
  • If convicted of first-degree murder with the weapon enhancement, he faces a likely sentence of roughly 22 to 29 years under Washington guidelines, as vigils in Seattle and Santa Fe honor 19-year-old Juniper Blessing.