LUMMI RESERVATION - A homeless man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 67-year-old Lummi man last week.
Levi Eugene Joseph Charles, 25, is suspected of killing Kenneth Joseph on Oct. 23, according to Lummi Nation police. A relative found Joseph beaten, with wounds to his head from an undisclosed weapon, inside his home at 4667 Lake Terrell Road.
Charles was arrested earlier this week after he turned himself in for a shoplifting warrant. Lummi spokespeople did not return calls until Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 31, to confirm that Charles was also a suspect in the murder.
The investigation is ongoing. Police did not say if any other suspects are at-large.
Court records show Charles has a history of nonviolent crimes: forging prescriptions for painkillers, busting into a La Conner minimart in the middle of the night "looking for a drink," and taking his grandma's debit card to buy minutes for his mobile phone.
When he was a teen, he stole his foster parents' van and went on a short-lived burglary spree, striking a cigarette mart and a McDonald's.
Joseph was a member of the Lummi and Sauk-Suiattle tribes. He had lived at the same home on Lake Terrell Road for decades.
No other details about the murder were available Wednesday, but charges are expected to filed in federal court by the end of the week.
