A man who was arrested in connection with the deaths of his parents in Federal Way had a history of violent and assaultive behavior toward them and others, court documents show.
A King County prosecutor wrote in a 2021 charging document that, at the time, a total of 10 protection orders had been issued by three different courts to protect his parents and others from the man.
On Thursday, Grace and Gregory Carmichael, 69 and 68, were found dead in their Federal Way home. A King County judge found probable cause on Friday to hold their 35-year-old son in jail for investigation of first- and second-degree murder with domestic violence enhancements.
The Seattle Times is not naming the man because he has not yet been charged. A charging decision, which has a higher burden of proof, will likely be made by prosecutors in the coming week, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office.
The King County Medical Examiner's office has not released the Carmichaels' official cause and manner of death, but Federal Way police believe they died from blunt force trauma. Both were found with head and face injuries, according to court documents.
Federal Way police found the couple after Grace's employer called 911, concerned that she had not arrived for her shift in the morning because she was typically reliable, according to a probable cause statement filed by a detective on Friday. The employer tracked Grace's work cell to her home and knocked on her door, but there was no response despite two cars sitting outside, according to the statement.
Officers arrived and knocked on doors and windows, but again there was no response, according to the statement. Police called the couple's daughter, who lives out-of-state, and she called Grace's sister to check on them.
Officers left the home, and about two hours later Grace's sister called 911. She said the couple's son was inside the home and she was concerned [he] might have killed Grace and Gregory," according to the statement.
When the sister and her husband arrived at the home, the front door was unlocked and the son was at the top of the stairs, they told police. He said his parents were sleeping and did not want to be disturbed, according to the probable cause document.
Grace's sister and brother-in-law left the home, and as they were talking, they saw the son exit and walk down the street. The brother-in-law went back inside and found Grace in the bedroom, apparently deceased, according to the statement. She was lying in bed with a blanket pulled up to her neck and her arms crossed on her chest, according to the documents.
In the living room, he found a blanket covering Gregory's body, with blood pooling on the floor around his head, according to the documents. When police came to the house again, they noted Gregory's body was next to a knocked-over chair, as though he had been sitting on it when the chair was pushed over.
Federal Way police searched for the son on Thursday, advising the public that he had last been seen getting on a bus. Around 5 p.m., an officer spotted him in a park about a mile from the Carmichaels' home and arrested him, according to the documents.
According to the probable cause document, his clothes had bloodstains and he had injuries on his face, chest and arms. At the police department, he told detectives he had been asleep that morning and did not know how he got hurt. When asked about his relationship with his parents, he said he "loved" them, then asked to speak with a lawyer.
In 2021, a King County Superior Court judge entered a domestic violence no-contact order after the younger Carmichael pleaded guilty to assaulting his parents. Court documents say he struck his father in the face several times, calling him "the devil, and slammed his mother's head into a staircase. Gregory had a broken nose and had to get five stitches on his face, the documents state. The argument began when Gregory asked his son to turn down his music.
At the time, Grace told police that her son had mental health issues and was possibly schizophrenic. The protection order expired in November 2023.
In 2018, the man was charged with felony harassment with a deadly weapon for entering a QFC in Tacoma, holding a knife and threatening to kill employees who confronted him.
In 2015, the son pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault against his father after he broke a window and entered Gregory's home. Court documents state the man grabbed Gregory by the throat and strangled him until he lost breath.
The probable cause document filed Friday stated that the man had an active warrant related to the fourth-degree assault case from 2021 after he failed to report to his probation officer. A Department of Corrections officer said he'd fled to Arizona and had been avoiding arrest for years, the detective wrote.
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