The concerned family of a Seattle man made the gruesome discovery of his dismembered body in bags inside the apartment he shared with the suspected killer.
Richard Lavietes’s remains were stuffed in two garbage bags when the horrified relatives used a spare key to access the apartment on Monday.
A colleague had also contacted 911 to report that the 41-year-old victim was fighting his “mentally unstable” roommate at work. Lavietes was shot to the head and dismembered.
Detectives said that Nicholas Van Cleave was arrested and charged with premeditated first-degree murder. He and Lavietes were close friends before he lost his job; Lavietes then invited him to live in the apartment.
“After murdering the victim, the defendant then took the extensive and extreme steps to hide the crime including dismembering the victim’s body, concealing the remains in multiple places throughout the home, and then concocting an elaborate story to cover up his act of murder when contacted by police,” authorities said.
