The King County prosecutor’s office has charged Bellevue man Christopher Leahy with premeditated murder in the brutal killing of transgender University of Washington student Juniper Blessing, 19, on May 10. The premeditated murder charge, plus a sentencing enhancement for using a deadly weapon, means that if Leahy is convicted, he faces between 22 to 29 years in prison.
What was the motive?
The county prosecutor did not provide a specific motive for Leahy’s alleged actions, but referenced only “the uncontrolled rage evidenced by horrific injuries he inflicted on Juniper Blessing.” A charging document claimed that Leahy, 31, “stalked another UW student across a multi-building apartment complex eventually following this second student into the same building and same room where he would viciously murder Juniper Blessing,” The Stranger reported.
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“Tracking apps and video recordings have placed the defendant in campus buildings and attempting to enter private homes in Ravenna prior to the murder and back near the murder scene two days after the murder,” the document added.
What surveillance footage showed
A security video captured Leavy stalking Blessing inside an off-campus housing laundry room minutes before murdering them. He stabbed Blessing 40 times.
The bone-chilling clip shows Leahy going in and out of the laundry room at the Nordheim Court student housing complex in Seattle on May 10, until he is left alone with Blessing. He then unplugged the camera and fatally stabbed the coed, KOMO-TV News reported.
Additional surveillance videos released by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office allegedly show Leahy trying to open doors in several homes in the neighborhood earlier, per the outlet.
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“Police indicate that there were attempts by the defendant to try to enter private homes in Ravenna in the days before the homicide,” Casey McNerthney, a rep for the prosecutors’ office, told KOMO.
“There was at least one other campus building that police say he attempted to get into before the death of Juniper on the 10th,” McNerthney added.
