San Juan Islands, WA: Murder-suicide suspected; 2 dead on boat in San Juans

By Charles E. Brown

Seattle Times staff reporter

A Bellevue man and a woman from Sammamish have both died in a suspected murder-suicide.

Coast Guard officers Wednesday afternoon boarded the man's 36-foot powerboat, which had been tracked from Friday Harbor into President Channel off Orcas Island.

San Juan County Sheriff Bill Cumming said the case was being investigated as a murder-suicide.

The victim was a Sammamish woman named Rhan Rha, 39. Investigators believe she was killed by her boyfriend, 39-year-old Albert Beutler, who then committed suicide.

A 13th District Coast Guard spokesman in Seattle said Beutler was a Coast Guard volunteer, known as an auxiliarist.

Cumming said the Bellevue Police Department alerted the Coast Guard and the San Juan County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday that a possible homicide suspect was traveling in the San Juan Islands. Bellevue police reported that the man had notified friends by text that he had killed his girlfriend and was planning to kill himself.

Bellevue police used the man's cellphone signal to approximate his location. Coast Guard boats located the powerboat as it left Friday Harbor, Cumming said, and followed it into President Channel, off the west side of Orcas Island.

A Customs/Homeland Security Protection Agency boat also joined the pursuit, Cumming said.

"When approaching the suspect vessel, the wanted subject went below despite being ordered to stay on deck," Cumming said. "Shortly thereafter, a shot was heard by responding personnel."

After boarding the boat, officers found the man still alive, but seriously wounded, the sheriff said. Coast Guard emergency crew administered CPR, he said, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cumming said the woman was found dead in the forward section of the boat, which later was taken to Friday Harbor. A search warrant was obtained, and the boat was searched for evidence, Cumming said. He said both victims appeared to be in their 40s.

Authorities speculate Rha died "much earlier" than when her body was found, Cumming said.