Crime & Safety

Cossey Murder: Woodinville Police Chief Classifies it as Burglary

At Tuesday's Woodinville City Council meeting, Police Chief Sydney Jackson said she'd classify the unsolved murder of Earl Cossey as a burglary.

Although King County Sheriff's Office officials said Friday there are no new details to reveal in the murder of Woodinville resident Earl Cossey, Woodinville Police Chief Sydney Jackson told the city council this week she'd classify the murder as a burglary.

At Tuesday's Woodinville City Council meeting, Mayor Bernie Talmas asked Jackson about Cossey's murder and a possible tie to burglary after she presented the monthly crime and traffic report.

Jackson said, "We would classify it – yes – as a burglary, meaning that somebody entered a home that shouldn't have been there, with an intent to commit a crime." 

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Cossey, 71, was found dead in his Woodinville home April 26. The King County Medical Examiner's Office listed Cossey's cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and said the manner of death was homicide. They also said he died April 23, several days before he was found at his home in the 15000 block of N.E. 192nd Street.

On Friday King County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Cindi West told Patch:

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Nothing new on the Cossey case and I have been instructed not to discuss an [sic] motive at this time.

Earlier this week, King County Sheriff’s detectives asked for the “good Samaritan” who mailed murder victim Earl Cossey’s driver's license and credit cards to his house to come forward.

Detectives believe the items were found by someone and mailed directly to Cossey’s address, which was listed on his driver’s license.

If you have any information regarding this case or the items mailed, please call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.

Previous coverage:

Detectives Ask for Public's Help in Murder of Woodinville Man

Man Who Packed DB Cooper's Parachutes ID'd as Woodinville Homicide Victim


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