Here’s how Bellingham police tracked down the man accused in Boulevard Park killing
A 22-year-old Marysville man who is accused of killing and dumping a well known homeless man into Bellingham Bay in March has confessed to the killing. The suspect has said the shooting was in self-defense, but police say forensic evidence in the case tells a different story.
Described as “the sweetest man in the world,” who had a big heart and an affinity for sports and baseball cards, 48-year-old Henry “Hank” Howard King, of Bellingham, was stabbed and shot multiple times during the early morning hours of March 12 on the boardwalk between Boulevard Park and Taylor Dock in Bellingham.
His body was found floating face down, with personal items floating nearby, later that same morning — roughly 175 yards north of where police believe the shooting occurred.
Investigators found two 9 mm shell casings and blood on and around the bench area on the boardwalk where the shooting likely occurred. Police believe the blood spatter evidence indicates the initial event happened near the bench, and that King moved to the railing before going over it and into Bellingham Bay.
Police say the evidence is consistent with King’s wounds, and the location where King’s body was found is consistent with the currents and tide information reported for that particular time and date.
No eyewitnesses in the case have come forward, but two independent witnesses told police they heard multiple gunshots around the area of the Chrysalis Inn and the boardwalk on March 12. The gunshots were reportedly heard at 4:04 a.m. and 4:06 a.m., according to Whatcom County Superior Court records.
King was a familiar face at Boulevard Park in the years prior to his death, and was often seen sitting on a bench where he would sell sports cards and engage in positive conversations with those who passed by. After news of King’s death broke, the Whatcom County community showed an outpouring of love and support for King, with many sharing fond memories of the conversations and interactions they’d had with him. A memorial bench for King is being placed soon at the park.
King was stabbed on the lower right side of his back, near his kidney. He was also shot three times, including once in his right upper rib cage, once in his right thigh and once in his neck. The bullets to King’s thigh and neck were through and through, according to court records.
The Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled King’s death a homicide on March 14.
Now, after an intensive, nearly nine-month-long investigation, the Bellingham Police Department has arrested the person they suspect of being King’s killer.
Twenty-two-year-old Elijah James Belmont, of Marysville, was booked into the Whatcom County Jail on Wednesday, Dec. 6. The Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Belmont on Dec. 4 in Whatcom County Superior Court with one count of premeditated first-degree murder for King’s death.
Belmont’s murder charge includes an aggravating factor that alleges he committed the crime while armed with a firearm, according to court records.
Belmont’s bail was set at $1.5 million at his first appearance in court Thursday afternoon, Dec. 7.
Belmont was still incarcerated in the downtown jail as of Monday afternoon, Dec. 11, according to jail records.
“Mr. Belmont is 22 years old and has no criminal history. At the time of the incident, he had a valid Concealed Pistol License. He was cooperative upon arrest and maintains his innocence,” Whatcom County Public Defender’s Office Director and Belmont’s public defense attorney Starck Follis said in an emailed statement to The Bellingham Herald.
A geofence
Roughly a month after King’s killing, Bellingham police applied for and were granted by the court a request for a Google geofence warrant.
The geofence warrant allows police to determine who was within a geofence, or defined physical area, during a specific period of time. The warrant compels companies like Google to produce information showing which devices interacted with their technology within the particular geographic location and time frame, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Bellingham police’s geofence covered a narrow area on the boardwalk between Boulevard Park and Taylor Dock, where they suspect King was killed.
A single device was present inside the geofence between 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. on March 12, records provided by Google revealed. The device pinged the network specifically between 4 a.m. and 4:07 a.m., which was within the time frame the two witnesses allegedly heard gunshots.
“The location data from the Geofence warrant places the device on and immediately around the crime scene. Google reported no other devices in the area at the time of the murder,” court documents state.
GPS points for the device indicated the device was within the geofence of the homicide scene between 4 a.m. and 4:15 a.m. on March 12. The device was later identified to be registered to Belmont, according to court records.
Bellingham police determined Belmont and his mother had ties to both Bellingham and Marysville, where the family owns homes.
When asked how often the Bellingham Police Department uses geofence warrants, Megan Peters, a Bellingham police spokesperson, told The Herald the police department “only utilizes this resource when it is approved by judicial review.”
When asked why detectives felt they needed to go to these lengths, Peters said the warrant was used to gather evidence for a homicide investigation. She declined to provide information on why detectives felt this was the best option.
When asked whether Bellingham police believe they would have identified Belmont as a suspect without the geofence warrant, Peters said: “We believe the investigation would have come to fruition. There is still work to be done and the investigation is ongoing.”
A timeline
Bellingham police also applied for and served a search warrant on AT&T, requesting records for Belmont’s phone number. Records provided by AT&T included call detail records and location information of the device associated with Belmont’s phone number, court documents state.
Bellingham police then used the phone records to piece together a timeline of Belmont’s alleged whereabouts before, during and after King’s killing.
The records date back to March 1, and show Belmont’s phone is in and around the Marysville area in the roughly week-and-a-half period prior to King’s death.
On March 11, Belmont’s phone leaves Marysville in the late afternoon and travels north to Bellingham, arriving around 5:42 p.m. The phone is then in and around Bellingham for several hours, before becoming stationary in a small residential area, court records state.
Around 11:05 p.m., the phone travels to downtown Bellingham and comes to rest around 11:21 p.m., near East Chestnut Street and North State Street. The phone is not active again until after midnight, the court documents state.
Around 1:25 a.m. on March 12, the phone is seen traveling out of downtown Bellingham.
At 2 a.m., daylight savings time began, and the clocks moved forward one hour, to 3 a.m.
Between 3:41 a.m. and 3:45 a.m., Belmont’s cell phone is shown traveling south on State Street toward Boulevard Park, where it reaches the area at or around the Chrysalis Inn at 3:45 a.m., which is also an access point to Taylor Dock, according to court records.
Roughly a half-hour later, around 4:15 a.m., Belmont’s cell phone showed it was in use and active near Fairhaven, before it began moving south out of Bellingham.
Police used the cell phone records to calculate the distance between the location points where Belmont’s cell phone pinged and the time frame between them, and determined the calculation “indicated Belmont’s phone was traveling at a high rate of speed. This suggests that Belmont had gotten into a vehicle driving south,” court documents state.
Roughly seven minutes later, at 4:22 a.m., Belmont’s cell phone is shown to be past the North Lake Samish exit, or exit 242, on Interstate 5, according to court records.
The cell phone then arrives back at Belmont’s mother’s house in Marysville around 5:30 a.m., where the phone remains stationary for the next several hours, the documents show.
Phone records received from the warrant show Belmont’s phone made a call to his mother’s cell phone roughly two minutes prior to arriving at her house.
One month later, on April 9, Belmont’s cell phone leaves Marysville around 3:46 a.m. and travels directly to Helper, Utah. Belmont had allegedly posted on social media announcing he had moved to Utah, court records state.
Belmont allegedly also made an hour-long phone call to a person in Helper, Utah, the morning of King’s death. Belmont then allegedly lived with the person whom he called once he arrived in Utah, according to the county prosecutor’s office.
He also allegedly told several people after King’s homicide that he had killed someone and needed to leave town.
Bellingham police followed up with law enforcement in Helper, Utah, on Nov. 6 and learned that Belmont was no longer living in the town. Department of Licensing records from Utah and Washington showed Belmont moved back to his mother’s home in Marysville in late September, the court records state.
Belmont’s mother owns at least two 9 mm handguns, which are consistent with the suspected murder weapon. Both Belmont and his mother have concealed pistol licenses, court documents state.
Interview and confession
An arrest warrant was issued for Belmont on Dec. 4. Two days later Bellingham police, with help from the Marysville Police Department and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Belmont on suspicion of premeditated first-degree murder.
During an interview with detectives following his arrest, Belmont allegedly confessed to stabbing and shooting King.
Belmont told police he was at Boulevard Park in the early morning hours of March 12 after he had been drinking at a bonfire and downtown Bellingham bars. He said he tried to sober up in his truck, but then decided to go to Boulevard Park.
Belmont said he parked near the Chrysalis Inn and walked the boardwalk, starting at Taylor Dock.
“He told Detectives that he would never go to a park at night without his gun as there is a large homeless population,” court records state.
Belmont said he walked and sent Snapchats to friends. Belmont told police he was walking south, toward Taylor Dock, when he was allegedly startled by King, who was lying on a bench.
Belmont said King popped up and allegedly began making noises at him. Belmont told police he tried to speak with King, but said they got into a physical fight and King tried to punch him, the court records state.
Belmont told police he pulled out a knife and tried to “jab” King. The knife lock failed and collapsed on Belmont’s pinky finger, causing him to drop it. Belmont’s injury required bandaging and scarred following the incident, court records show.
Belmont told police King pulled out his own knife, which prompted Belmont to pull out his compact Smith and Wesson M&P handgun from a holster.
Belmont told police he ordered King to stop, and when King didn’t, Belmont shot King twice in the stomach, according to court records.
King was still moving towards him, so Belmont told police he shot King two additional times in the chest. Belmont said King ran around the bench and jumped over the railing into Bellingham Bay with a knife.
“Belmont stated he did not know what to do next and decided to throw all of King’s belongings into the water,” court records state.
Belmont told police he used napkins in his truck to render self-aid. He told police he “vaguely remembers calling someone” but said he did stop for a can of chewing tobacco while on his way home to Marysville, court documents show.
Bellingham police say the forensic and physical evidence in the case doesn’t match Belmont’s version of events.
Forensic evidence allegedly shows King was shot from right to left and was moving away from his attacker at the time.
Bellingham police say Belmont’s statements about both he and King having knives, and that King’s knife ended up in the water, also don’t add up. No knives were found during two separate dive operations that combed the sea floor conducted in the days following King’s homicide. Only general items, such as sunglasses and cell phones, were recovered, according to court records.
During a search warrant served on Belmont’s home on Dec. 6, detectives found a black-scaled Damascus folding knife in the left front pocket of pants in Belmont’s bedroom. Belmont’s wallet was also found in the pants.
A preliminary forensic examination of the knife produced a positive result for trace amounts of blood, according to court records.
Belmont’s mother’s Smith and Wesson firearm was found in Belmont’s pickup truck. The ammunition loaded into the handgun matches the brand and model of the shell casings recovered from the homicide scene.
Several locations in the driver’s seat area of Belmont’s truck also produced a positive result for trace amounts of blood, court documents state.
Motive under investigation
Police also interviewed Belmont’s mother on the day of Belmont’s arrest.
During the interview, Belmont’s mother told police her son told her “he had been in an altercation on the boardwalk in Bellingham with a homeless man.”
The mother told police that Belmont told her he had stabbed the man and shot at him multiple times. She also told police that Belmont “told her he had to ‘help’ the homeless man over the railing and into the water,” according to court records.
Peters, the Bellingham police spokesperson, did not answer The Herald’s questions regarding when Belmont informed his mother of the incident in Bellingham, whether both Belmont and his mother are registered owners of the firearms, how gun safety laws may affect this case, or whether Belmont’s mother could potentially be arrested or face charges for having unsecured firearms or not reporting the incident involving her son.
When asked whether Bellingham police have a suspected motive for why Belmont allegedly killed King, or whether detectives believe Belmont targeted King because he was homeless at the time of his death, Peters told The Herald “this is under investigation. Any information regarding a potential motive will have to come out through the legal process.”
When asked why Bellingham police believe the forensic evidence doesn’t match Belmont’s version of events, Peters said “Because it doesn’t. The forensic evidence isn’t consistent with Belmont’s statements. The investigation is ongoing.”
Belmont allegedly confessed to being the person who stabbed and shot King in March, and confessed to knowing King went into Bellingham Bay following the incident. Belmont did not summon aid or contact law enforcement at any time after King’s killing, according to court records.
Belmont also allegedly told police he followed the story of King’s homicide in the press and online leading up to his arrest, court documents state.
“When someone is victimized, especially a member of Bellingham’s vulnerable population, and someone isn’t held accountable, it puts others in our community at risk. That is unacceptable,” Peters, the police spokesperson, said. “Our community is stronger when all our citizens are safe. Felonious crimes against people, such as homicides, significant assaults, and sexual assaults, take priority.”
