Tacoma Stabbing

Reported by Rod 2.0

Disturbing news from Washington state where apparently a sexual relationship between a gay man and an ex-convict went wrong. Very wrong.

On Tuesday, police found the body of Morris Perry inside his Tacoma home, reportedly stabbed in the neck four or five times with a screwdriver. Two days later authorities had a man behind bars—Steven Dwayne Anderson.

Reportedly Anderson's rap sheet includes prison time, at least two felony convictions and up to 16 aliases. Police say Perry's teenaged daughter helped them track Perry's missing cell phone to his missing car ... with Anderson behind the wheel.

Conflicting accounts of the relationship between the perp and vic:

KOMO-TV: "Anderson knew Perry, and that over the past five months in exchange for a place to sleep and wash clothes he had sex with the victim."

KIRO-TV: "According to charging documents, Anderson said he and Perry met up at a bar and went to Perry's house for sex. Anderson said when he arrived, he saw a car with two men was parked in the driveway. He said he refused to go along, claiming he didn't want to have group sex. He said he then borrowed Perry's car and cell phone, leaving Perry with the two other men."

Tacoma News-Tribune: "Anderson told police he knew Perry and that he’d shot pool with him Tuesday evening, court documents state. He denied killing Perry and said he last saw him in the company of two other men,"

After almost a decade in local and network television news, we're not surprised by the conflicting details. It's also not surprisingly that the victim's family denies that Morris Perry was gay and "are concerned about what effect those allegations will have on Perry's adopted daughter." However, that has been independently confirmed to Rod 2.0; a reader who lives in the Tacoma-area knew the deceased. The denial is not surprising—just unfortunate. By not admitting the truth, the family can compromise the investigation and, possibly, encourage the victim to invent more untruths and add insult to injury.

Once again, no mugshots and we've explained why. Video at KOMO and KIRO. (Thanks JH!)

Transient Charged in Fatal Stabbing (News-Tribune)
Victim's Daughter Helps Catch Suspected Killer (KOMO)
Prosecutors: Suspect Had Sexual Relationship With Stabbing Victim (KIRO)