Whatcom medical examiner releases identification, cause of death in Saturday’s homicide
Monday update: $1 million bail set for suspect in stabbing death as police provide crime timeline
Donald T. Alderson, 71, died from blood loss after he was stabbed in the chest Saturday morning in what Bellingham Police suspect was a random string of violence in the Puget neighborhood, according to Whatcom County Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Goldfogel.
Goldfogel, in an email Sunday to The Bellingham Herald, said he listed the method of death as homicide.
Another man and a woman were injured in two other assaults a few minutes earlier in the Puget neighborhood, according to a city of Bellingham release Saturday. Police believe they were victims of the same man they suspect of stabbing and killing Alderson, though none of them knew the suspect.
Bellingham Police booked Jesse Rene Reyes, 33, into Whatcom County Jail Saturday on suspicion of first-degree murder, second-degree assault and fourth-degree assault.
At 11:05 a.m. Saturday, police were called to the 800 block of Lakeway Drive, where a woman reported being hit in the face by a stranger who rode off on a bicycle, according to the release. The woman sustained minor injuries.
Shortly after that, the release said, another 911 call reported a man being assaulted near Lincoln Street and Potter Street by a man matching the description of the suspect in the first assault. The second victim suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
At 11:19 a.m., a third 911 call came from a person who found what was described as a gravely injured man on a trail near Meador Street, the release said. The victim died of his injuries before police arrived.
Witnesses reported seeing a man matching the description of the suspect in the first two assaults walk away with blood on his clothing and hands, according to the release.
Officers searched the area, called in a K-9 team and asked for assistance from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office with setting a perimeter, the release said. A Bellingham Police officer spotted Reyes, and with the assistance of a K-9 handler and an off-duty officer, took Reyes into custody.
This story was originally published October 7, 2018 at 1:49 PM.