Torture Murder Kirkland Police Helped Solve Draws 22-Year Sentence

A Lake Stevens man linked to the torture murder of a Bitter Lake man by a briefcase found during a search by Kirkland police has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Charles Jungbluth, 51, had earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 70-year-old Francis “Patrick” Fleming, who was stabbed to death in December of 2011 at his Bitter Lake area apartment. Jungbluth was sentenced Monday in King County Superior Court.

A co-defendant, 46-year-old Brenda Nicholas, was earlier convicted of murder by a jury and will be sentenced later. A third defendant, Gilda Ramirez, pleaded guilty to robbery after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.

Fleming, who owned a valuable collection of gold and silver coins, was found partially decapitated on the floor of his apartment. KOMO News reported that a Seattle detective noted Fleming had been stabbed repeatedly in a fashion indicating he'd been "tortured prior to death."

The case was cracked when Kirkland police, investigating thefts by the three, searched a home where Jungbluth and Ramirez were living. They found a briefcase there with papers belonging to Fleming.

All three of the defendants remain in jail.