Seattle man confesses to murdering girlfriend before sexually assaulting nurse: docs

SEATTLE (KOMO) — Disturbing court documents detail the arrest of a 26-year-old man who was charged with first-degree murder and felony assault after a woman was found dead in a flooded townhome in Seattle.

King County prosecutors charged Andy Chu who told detectives he "may have been responsible for killing her." Documents indicate the victim was Chu's girlfriend who was visiting from Hawaii.

Seattle police were called to Chu's townhome in Lake City's Olympic Hills neighborhood Saturday. According to charging documents, the woman's body was discovered after neighbors saw water coming from the home and called the landlord.

Once police and fire made entry, they found a bathtub full of water and the bathroom sink running. Police said the woman was found on her back with a throat laceration and "an ice pack on her throat and a small block behind her neck, supporting her head."

She also had "possible dried blood on her arms, shoulders, and chest as well as a granular substance covering these areas," documents stated.

In addition, the autopsy revealed a large, heavy white ball that was lodged in her throat at the base of her tongue.

According to charging documents, the victim was killed sometime between Aug. 9 and Aug. 10.

Prosecutors said Chu twisted her neck and held her underwater in a bathtub. The autopsy also noted that the woman had sustained blunt force trauma to her face, head, neck, chest, arms, and legs. Police reports also detail there was "no shower head on the pipe."

Security footage provided by a neighbor showed Chu and the woman identified in court documents walk into the townhome with groceries on Aug. 9.

The next day, Chu is captured on video leaving his house alone before friends take him to the hospital because he was acting "erratically."

Police arrested Chu at UW Medical Center Northwest early Sunday after staff there called 911 to report that a nurse had been assaulted. Court documents state "a patient in the ER assaulted her by groping her breasts and attempting to pull her head down by hooking the back of her neck."

Once arrested Chu told detectives he had "a crisis condition" which caused him to leave the townhome. He told police he took two molly pills and smoked marijuana.

Court records state "he said his girlfriend was there after just arriving from Hawaii where she resides. He said he thought he may have killed her."

He also told police he "has a memory of choking her, twisting her neck, holding her down underwater in the tub." He said he thought he broke her neck and "remembered her bleeding from her nose, which he wiped away."

During the interview, documents indicate that he told investigators that he pulled her from the tub and put her on the bathroom floor.

"He then tried several things to revive her, including sprinkling the Acai powder all over her, placing a ball similar to a golf ball in her mouth to fix her jaw," according to documents.

Court records also state that he admitted to taking two doses of MDMA, which is a drug also known as ecstasy or Molly.

The state set Chu's bail at $5 million. His next court date was scheduled for Aug. 28.