Photo: Seattle Police Department, Washington State Department of Corrections
Brett Michael Gitchel, the man accused of killing a woman who went missing during a Seattle Mariners game last month, pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges in court on Monday, April 24, according to KOMO.
Gitchel, 46, is the suspect in the murder of Leticia Martinez-Cosman and the attempted kidnapping of her 24-year-old son, Patrick Cosman. He was charged with second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, second-degree arson, first-degree theft, and second-degree burglary.
Martinez-Cosman, 58, was last seen at T-Mobile Park on March 31 while on a date with Gitchel. Eleven days later, Seattle Police found her body in a remote ditch in Renton. The King County Medical Examiner's Office determined she died of strangulation and ruled her death a homicide. Ricardo Martinez, Martinez-Cosman's brother, identified her body.
Martinez reported his sister missing on April 2, the same day Gitchel allegedly attacked Patrick Cosman. Court documents say Gitchel told the son his mother got into an accident and was going to take him to see her. After they drove for what the son described as "hours," Gitchel stopped the vehicle saying he needed to get some water. That's when the suspect got into the back of the vehicle and wrapped an "unknown material" around Cosman's face and neck, prosecutors allege.
The son told officers it felt like Gitchel was trying to "kill him by smothering or strangling him," records read. Cosman was able to free himself by biting the suspect's arm, then escaped the vehicle and called 911. While he dialed dispatchers, Gitchel climbed back into the vehicle and drove off, per court documents.
The burglary charge stems from an alleged West Seattle burglary that took place four days before Martinez-Cosman disappeared. According to court papers, Gitchel was caught on surveillance camera breaking into a backyard of a home in the 4100 block of 54th Avenue Southwest. Prosecutors said he stole a clock hanging outside a garden shed, a $380 leafblower, and a pair of shears from the property. He was also recorded trying to manipulate the cameras' field of view before removing them altogether, though the homeowner said he later found them at a nearby property, records say.
Gitchel incurred an arson charge for allegedly burning Martinez-Cosman's vehicle on April 2. He was arrested on April 5 after law enforcement got a search warrant to check his phone records and location data.
The 46-year-old remains in custody on a $5,050,000 bond at King County jail.