Court documents identify victim in suspected murder at Bellingham homeless camp
The victim in a suspected murder in a homeless encampment Sept. 3 behind Walmart was identified as Scott Dobson, 27, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents released Friday.
Dobson was shot in the chest with a Ruger semi-automatic .22 caliber long rifle on the afternoon of Sept. 3, the documents state.
The Bellingham Police Department booked Travis William Hamilton, 38, into Whatcom County Jail Friday, Sept. 3., on outstanding warrants for burglary and criminal trespassing, jail records show.
On Tuesday, Sept. 7, police established probable cause for second-degree murder, Lt. Claudia Murphy told the Bellingham Herald in an email late Wednesday.
Court records show Hamilton’s bail was set at $1 million on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Police were sent at approximately 2:22 p.m. Sept. 3 to the 4200 block of Meridian Street for the report of a person with a gunshot wound to the chest located in a tent at one of the encampments behind Walmart, Murphy reported.
Officers and members of the Bellingham Fire Department entered the woods behind Walmart and found Dobson, according to Murphy, adding that Dobson was examined by EMS personnel and determined to be dead.
Detectives arrived on scene to begin interviewing people in the area that had shown up after hearing the gunshot.
One witness reported hearing the gunshot, going to Hamilton’s camp to see what happened and seeing Hamilton standing 10 to 12 feet outside the opening of the tent where Dobson was found, Murphy reported. The witness also reported seeing a rifle laying against a post beside Hamilton, according to Murphy, and Dobson was seen on the ground near there, crawling toward the tent.
The witness reported seeing nobody else coming or going from the area where Hamilton’s tent was located.
Hamilton also was interviewed by police, and reported that he was sleeping in a folding chair when the sound of a gunshot woke him up, according to court documents.
Hamilton reported seeing Dobson on the ground and crawling toward the tent and said he did not know who had shot Dobson, according to Murphy.
Whatcom County Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Goldfogel performed an autopsy on Dobson.
Goldfogel ruled the gunshot could not have been self inflicted, according to court documents, and determined his death to be a homicide by gunshot wound. Goldfogel also retrieved a bullet from inside Dobson’s body.
Police applied for and were granted a search warrant to Hamilton’s tent and recovered a .22 caliber rifle containing the same ammunition that was found inside Dobson’s body during the autopsy, according to Murphy. The rifle reportedly was found in a bicycle trailer, which was a different location from where the witness reported seeing it.
Police also found spent .22 casings and a 7mm magnum gun among Hamilton’s belongings, court documents state.
Court records show Hamilton had not been charged as of Friday, Sept. 10, but he is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 17.
