CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Police have arrested a Spokane, Wash., man on the run since last week and wanted in connection with a woman’s murder.
Tony Callihan, 38, was taken into custody Friday morning, according to Sgt. Tim Hobbs of the Clearlake Police Department.
On Saturday he remained in jail custody, awaiting extradition back to Washington state. Spokane Police spokesperson Officer Jennifer DeRuwe said it’s not clear when Callihan would be returned to Spokane.
DeRuwe said Callihan will face first-degree murder for killing 48-year-old Spokane resident Michelle Koenen, whose body was found by police in her apartment last Friday, Dec. 7.
“He strangled her,” said DeRuwe.
DeRuwe said Callihan went to his stepfather’s house afterward, got some money and admitted to killing someone.
“The stepdad is the one who called us,” DeRuwe said.
Police then went to Koenen’s apartment and found her body, according to DeRuwe.
DeRuwe said Callihan and Koenen knew each other, but it’s not clear just what their relationship was.
After Koenen’s murder, Callihan stole her 2006 Dodge Stratus and fled, DeRuwe said.
DeRuwe said Callihan is well known to Spokane Police. “He doesn’t like the police. He runs from us all the time.”
Spokane-area media reported that Callihan had been spotted in Ellensburg, Wash., on Monday, after allegedly stealing gasoline.
DeRuwe said Ellensburg is about about two and a half hours from Spokane, heading west toward Seattle.
She said Ellensburg is a turning point – Callihan could have continued to Seattle but instead he turned south and went through Portland, Ore., where he picked up a male transient.
Hobbs said Clearlake Police received a report at 5 a.m. Friday of a suspicious vehicle parked by the recycling Center at Ray’s Food Place on Dam Road. They found Callihan and the male transient sleeping in the car.
Although DeRuwe said Callihan has a history of running from police, Hobbs said Callihan gave police his real name when contacted and was taken into custody without incident.
Hobbs said Clearlake Police arrested Callihan on a fugitive from justice warrant, with Spokane Police lining up the murder arrest warrant afterward.
DeRuwe said that fugitive warrant was issued by the Washington State Department of Corrections because Callihan, who recently had gotten out of state prison, had failed to follow the terms of his release.
She said Spokane Police detectives have been able to speak with the transient, and the vehicle itself will be sealed for evidence.
DeRuwe was not sure why Callihan headed to California. “I think he’s just trying to get away from us,” she said, noting that his family and other ties are in the Spokane area.
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