A man suspected of killing his girlfriend in Washington state, posting photos of her corpse and describing the slaying online and then leading police in Oregon on a high-speed chase is in custody, police announced Wednesday night.
Shortly after the Portland Police Department surrounded a home where officers believed David Kalac, 33, of Port Orchard, Wash., might have been hiding, the department said the sighting in their city was false - and that Kalac was in custody in a neighboring jurisdiction. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Kalac had turned himself in to a deputy and was arrested by police in the suburb of Wilsonville.
Earlier in the afternoon, Portland police announced that they found the gold Ford Focus that Kalac was believed to have been driving.
Amber Lynn Coplin, 30, was found dead in her Port Orchard apartment Tuesday afternoon when her teenage son arrived home, Kitsap County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Wilson said.
However, before the son got to the apartment, photos of Coplin's nude body were posted on the Internet, including on the website 4chan, along with messages detailing the killing, Wilson said.
A warrant was issued for Kalac's arrest.
"We have a strong reason to believe that he took those photographs after her death and put them on social media," Wilson said.
"Turns out its way harder to strangle someone to death than it looks on the movies," a user whom police believe to be Kalac posted Tuesday afternoon on 4chan. "She fought so Damn hard."
The user also detailed a plan to be killed by police.
“Her son will be home from school soon. He’ll find her, then call the cops. I just wanted to share the pics before they find me. I bought a BB gun that looks realistic enough. When they come, I’ll pull it and it will be suicide by cop,” the user said in another post. "I understand the doubts. Just click the ... news. I have to lose my phone now.”
Police in Portland were led on a high-speed chase early Wednesday after they spotted a person driving the victim's car, Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said.
The driver got away after he swerved into oncoming traffic, Simpson said.
Wilson said Kalac has a lengthy criminal record and is considered armed and dangerous.
Kalac was convicted in April of domestic violence against another woman, the Kitsap Sun reported Wednesday.
Coplin and Kalac moved into the small apartment complex on Madrona Drive in the small town of Port Orchard in July from a nearby apartment, said next-door neighbor Marlene Fecto.The two lived with Coplin's son and mainly kept to themselves, she said.
Fecto said she was home around the time Coplin is believed to have been killed but that she didn't hear anything. She later went for a walk and when she came home saw Coplin's son standing outside their apartment as police arrived.
"He was probably in shock if he went in and saw his mother completely naked sprawled out," Fecto said. "It is shocking for all of us."
© 2014 the Los Angeles Times. Distributed by MCT Information Services.
