Convicted murderer charged in fatal stabbing at Seattle assisted living facility

LOS ANGELES — On Monday, prosecutors filed charges against a man who allegedly stabbed another man to death at a Seattle assisted living facility last month.

Richard Eric Nesbit, 51, has committed violent crimes in Washington State several times. According to the indictment, he murdered a man in 1990 by shooting him in the head at close range with a shotgun.

Nesbit is now accused of stabbing Steven Paul Eden at least 22 times with a knife on August 29 at the Downtown Emergency Services Center (DESC) at 1811 Eastlake Avenue.

According to Seattle police, surveillance video shows Nesbit entering a restroom in the building with Eden at 2:39 a.m.

The video then shows Nesbit leaving the laundry room at 3:01 a.m. and then exiting the building, according to the charges. Investigators say no one else entered the laundry room until a woman discovered Eden's body at 8:44 a.m.

According to the coroner's report, Eden had been stabbed 22 times, including three to the neck, several to the head and one stab wound through the heart.

Police say Nesbit's boots had the same distinctive pattern as a shoe print found in the blood in the laundry room and that he was wearing the same clothes seen on surveillance video.

Nesbit's violent crime story

In charging documents, the King County District Attorney's Office points to Nesbit's criminal record, which includes a previous conviction for murder and an assault for an unprovoked attack on a stranger on a Metro bus.

“This is not the first person the defendant has killed,” Assistant District Attorney Brandy Gevers wrote in the charging papers. “In 1990, the defendant shot a man at point blank range with a sawed-off shotgun. The defendant was indicted and convicted by a jury of peers of first-degree premeditated murder.”

According to court records, Nesbit served 21 years in prison for murder, but after his release from prison, he racked up more convictions, including attempted escape in 2011, fourth-degree assault in 2012, assault and domestic violence against children in 2014 and hit-and-run in 2016, court records show.

“Mild punishment” for unprovoked bus attack

In 2020, Nesbit was on a Metro bus in Renton when he approached a sleeping man and struck him twice in the head with a claw hammer, court records show.

Despite being hit in the head with a hammer, the victim was able to get up and run toward the bus driver while shouting, “I don't even know you, man,” according to a police report from the King County Sheriff's Office.

The report goes on to say that the victim ran off the bus and Nesbit remained on the bus. The driver told investigators she did not immediately call police because she feared it would provoke Nesbit.

Officers collected surveillance video from the bus and distributed it to local police. A Kent police officer identified Nesbit as a suspect in a harassment case that occurred several hours before the bus attack. He was arrested and charged with second-degree assault.

The King County District Attorney's Office asked a judge to send Nesbit to prison for 29 months, citing his criminal record.

Nesbit's public defenders asked a judge to release Nesbit, taking into account the 529 days he spent in custody between his arrest and the sentencing.

The defense relied on the fact that the victim of the bus attack was never found by investigators and therefore could not determine whether and how seriously he was injured by the hammer blows.

The defense said Nesbit could move to Nevada and live with a friend, otherwise he would be homeless if he stayed in Washington.

“Mr. Nesbit has a history of bipolar disorder that has been treated intermittently with antipsychotic medications in the past,” a defense memorandum said. “The symptoms of Mr. Nesbit's mental illness were present prior to the attack and persisted long after the attack, even in a controlled setting. It is reasonable to believe that there is a connection between his impaired mental health and his behavior on March 22, 2020 that provides a basis for deterioration.”

On October 8, 2021, Judge Judith Ramseyer imposed an “extraordinary sentence below the usual range” and released Nesbit from custody. Ramseyer ordered that Nesbit move to Las Vegas under the release plan proposed by the defense.

“The defendant has clearly failed to comply with the court's lenient sentence and order to live in another state,” Gevers wrote in charging documents filed Monday. “In summary, the facts presented in this case, the defendant's history of extreme violence resulting in convictions, the pending charges involving a persistent pattern of violence, and his inability to conduct himself in a law-abiding manner all demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that the defendant has a propensity for violence that poses a significant risk of endangerment and harm to the community.”

PROBLEMS AT FACILITY 1811 EASTLAKE

According to DESC, 1811 Eastlake provides housing for formerly homeless people suffering from substance use disorder.

This is the second murder at 1811 Eastlake in the last year. On November 14, 2023, 65-year-old Wayne Michael Craigen died of blunt force injuries to the head and his death was ruled a homicide.

In 2015, staff at 1811 Eastlake waited ten hours before reporting an assault that resulted in a man's death.

NEXT STEP IN NEW MURDER CASE

Nesbit is being held without bail in the King County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors also asked a judge to ban Nesbit from having any contact with anyone at the 1811 Eastlake facility because residents and staff had expressed to police that they were afraid of him.

Nesbit is scheduled to appear for arraignment at the King County Courthouse on September 18.