Boulevard Park homicide suspect allegedly confesses to killing Bellingham man; bail set
Bail has been set at $1.5 million for a Marysville man who allegedly confessed to shooting and killing a man at a Bellingham park roughly nine months ago.
Elijah James Belmont, 22, was charged Dec. 4 in Whatcom County Superior Court with one count of premeditated first-degree murder for the March 12 shooting death of 48-year-old Henry Howard King of Bellingham. Belmont’s murder charge includes an aggravating factor that states Belmont committed the crime while armed with a firearm, according to court records.
Belmont was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 6, and booked into the Whatcom County Jail.
King died on the boardwalk between Taylor Dock and Boulevard Park from multiple gunshot wounds around 4 a.m. on March 12. His body and belongings were found in the water, offshore near Taylor Dock, according to previous reporting in The Bellingham Herald.
King, who grew up in Bellingham and was known as Hank to those close to him, was a familiar face at Boulevard Park in the years prior to his death. He was known to sell sports cards and frequently engage in positive conversations with those who passed by.
He struggled with mental illness and was homeless at the time of his death. After his death, an impromptu memorial for King was set up on the bench where he often sat at Boulevard Park, The Herald previously reported.
King’s death was ruled a homicide March 14 by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Safety, flight risks
During Belmont’s first appearance in court Thursday afternoon, Dec. 7, Whatcom County deputy prosecuting attorney Maggie Peach said Belmont represented a high risk to community safety and argued that there was a high likelihood that he would flee if released from custody.
Peach said Belmont made an hour-long phone call to someone in Helper, Utah, the day he allegedly killed King. Two weeks later, Belmont relocated to Helper to live with the person he called. He later returned to his mother’s house in Marysville in September, court records show.
Belmont also allegedly told several people after King’s homicide that he had killed someone and needed to leave town, Peach said.
“It is not a far stretch to see why he moved there and when,” she said. “And the number of people that he made aware of what he had done, and did not report what he had done to law enforcement, is shocking.”
The fact that Belmont and King did not know one another, did not have a history together, that King was known in the community to be peaceful, and that this appears to be a random murder “shouldn’t give the court comfort,” Peach said Thursday in court.
“There is an incredibly high risk of this defendant fleeing once released and the people around him supporting him in his endeavor. And the reason we know there’s a high risk is because he already did it. He already fled the state. He already tried to hide from this and only came back in September when he figured the coast was clear,” she said.
Peach asked the court to set bail at $5 million for Belmont.
Setting bail lower than $5 million would raise the risk to community safety and the risk that prosecutors and law enforcement would not be able to see the case through to completion, Peach said.
No motive, premeditation
But Whatcom County Public Defender’s Office Director Starck Follis, who appeared Thursday as Belmont’s defense attorney, said that Belmont was not a danger to the community.
Follis said Belmont, who is 22, has little to no criminal history, including no prior convictions. He said Belmont has shown that he is not a danger to society over the course of the past nine months — the time between King’s killing and Belmont’s arrest.
“Despite the fact that Ms. Peach is concerned about the randomness of this incident and the likelihood that it would find a repeat in the community seems somewhat of a stretch given Mr. Belmont’s track record, not only before this incident, but after this incident,” Follis said.
Belmont willingly cooperated with law enforcement and provided information following his arrest. Belmont also allegedly told police that he acted in self-defense, Follis said.
“Whether his account matches up with the forensic evidence in this case is something that’s going to be determined at trial, not here at first appearance,” Follis said.
Belmont did leave Washington state and move to Utah after King’s homicide, but Follis said there are hundreds of other reasons — other than to conceal oneself and flee the area after a crime — for why someone may move for a short period of time and then come back.
Follis said the assumption that Belmont’s mother, who owns homes in both Whatcom and Snohomish counties, was going to help her son flee “is just fanciful speculation.”
“I would submit to the court that there’s precious too little to indicate an ongoing danger to the community, precisely because the allegation here is a random, and you know, frankly, somewhat unexplained incident, other than perhaps by self-defense,” Follis said. “It will remain to be seen how exactly and why exactly this incident arose. But there’s certainly no apparent motivation on Mr. Belmont’s part to set out to do anyone harm that evening.”
Follis also said there’s little evidence to indicate there was premeditated intent for Belmont to allegedly kill King.
“These are individuals that did not know each other. There was no motive for the commission of this offense, and all of that belies premeditation,” Follis said.
He asked the court to set bail at $250,000.
Bail set
In response to Follis’s arguments, Peach argued there was still a heightened risk that Belmont would flee the area and that he represented a danger to the community.
“I think $250,000 on a murder in the first degree that appears to be a random execution of a homeless person in our community makes no sense here,” Peach said.
Whatcom County Superior Court Commissioner Pro Tempore Daniel McGreevy said in determining bail for Belmont, he considered Belmont’s lack of criminal history, but noted that Belmont did leave the state after King’s death.
McGreevy also noted the seriousness of the charge and Follis’ argument regarding premeditation of the alleged murder.
McGreevy ultimately set Belmont’s bail at $1.5 million, with no cash alternative. He also ordered that Belmont not be allowed to possess firearms if released, and that Belmont surrender his concealed pistol license to law enforcement.
Belmont is also not allowed to leave Whatcom or Snohomish counties overnight.
Belmont’s arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 15.
More witnesses sought
Belmont is accused of shooting and killing King around 4 a.m. on March 12, according to previous reporting in The Herald.
Around 7:14 a.m. on March 12, Bellingham police were notified a body and personal items were floating in Bellingham Bay.
Bellingham police and the Bellingham Fire Department responded and retrieved the body and items. The body was later identified as King.
Blood and 9mm shell casings were found where the actual killing is suspected to have occurred on the boardwalk.
Bellingham police have asked the public for help multiple times throughout its investigation, as no eyewitnesses had come forward and investigators had very little information following King’s homicide.
Two separate witnesses did tell Bellingham police they heard three gunshots around 4:06 a.m. on March 12. Law enforcement later obtained search warrants for cell phone data in the area of King’s death around the time the witnesses had heard the gunshots, according to a Dec. 7 Facebook update from Bellingham police.
Police later found that Belmont’s cell phone was active in the area where the shooting occurred at the time of King’s death. Police also discovered that Belmont had access to multiple 9mm pistols.
Probable cause was developed to arrest Belmont on suspicion of murder. After executing several search warrants, Bellingham police found the gun suspected to have been used in King’s killing, the update from Bellingham police states.
Belmont then allegedly confessed to shooting and killing King with the suspected murder weapon in an interview with law enforcement following his Wednesday arrest.
“Every homicide victim deserves justice. I am so grateful for our talented and relentless detectives who worked extremely hard with very little initial information,” Bellingham Police Chief Rebecca Mertzig said in a prepared statement. “I want to personally and publicly thank them for their efforts. I also want to thank our partner law enforcement agencies for helping us safely arrest the suspect in this case. Our surrounding law enforcement community is incredible.”
Detectives believe more people have information that is pertinent to the homicide investigation, which is ongoing.
Police are asking that anyone with relevant information contact Bellingham police detective Travis Hauri at 360-778-8791.
Information can also be shared online at https://www.cob.org/tips or by calling the non-emergency line at (360)-676-6911.
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 7:30 PM.
