Police say Amber Lynn Coplin’s body was discovered by her 13-year-old son.
An American man accused of killing his girlfriend in Washington state, posting photos of her body online and asking people to kill him walked up to officers and turned himself in, police said.
According to Clackamas County Sheriff’s Sergeant Nate Thompson, suspect David Karak, 33, was arrested in Wilsonville, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Portland.
As officers were patrolling the scene, a man emerged from a wooded area near the parking lot.
“He basically said, ‘There’s a warrant out for your arrest,'” Thompson said in a phone interview. Karak was cooperative but would not go into detail about how he got to Wilsonville, the spokesman said.
Karak has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Amber Lynn Coplin, 30, of Port Orchard, Washington. He was transported to Portland and is being held on $2 million bail.
Detectives from Washington state have arrived in Portland and hope to interview suspects and seize the dead woman’s car, a 2001 Ford Focus, which was found in Portland, about 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of the crime scene.
Portland police say they engaged in a short vehicle pursuit before arresting the suspect.
Kitsap County Undersheriff Scott Wilson said Karak has a criminal record with convictions for assault, theft and driving under the influence in Washington and Virginia.
Wilson said police confirmed that the gruesome photos posted on the website were of the victim and the crime scene in Port Orchard.
The person who posted the photo commented online about how the woman was killed, writing that she was meant to be shot by police.
“He’s the prime suspect,” Wilson said. “It’s reasonable to assume he’s probably the person who posted these photos.”
Wilson said Coplin’s body was discovered by her 13-year-old son.
The boy had heard her arguing with Karak hours earlier, detectives said in court documents. An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday.
Police said Koplin’s body was found in her bedroom. Near her head was a driver’s license with the word “Dead” written on it, on the blinds was “Bad News” written on it, and on the wall was a picture that read, “She Killed Me First.”
According to court records, Koplin’s son told police that his mother and Karak had been arguing loudly the night before Koplin’s death, and witnesses also said they heard what sounded like a physical argument and loud banging and banging coming from an apartment in a town across Puget Sound west of Seattle.
According to court documents, the boy told police that when he left his mother’s apartment the morning she died, he thought she was asleep and Karak was not there.
Wilson said the boy had come home from school and taken a nap. When he woke up that afternoon, he noticed his car was gone and went to check on his mother, “and found her unresponsive,” Wilson said.
At that point, the boy called his father, Coplin’s estranged husband, who arrived about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, discovered the body and called 911, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
According to court documents, the caller reported Coplin had been hit in the face, his car was missing and he was bloody and covered in bruises.
Karak used his cell phone to send a text message to a friend saying he had read about him in the news.
At some point, Karak got into Coplin’s car and drove three hours to Portland, where officers found the vehicle, Wilson said.
Wilson said investigators believe he is the only suspect in Coplin’s death and are not searching for an accomplice.
Officers attempted to stop the driver, but the vehicle sped off at a high rate of speed. The pursuit was called off when the vehicle began to veer into oncoming traffic.