The Bellingham Police have arrested two people in connection to an April murder.
Coleen L. Clark, 35, and Gale R. Jefferson, 33, were wanted for the murder of 30-year-old Zachariah Janusiewicz who died on April 15, according to Megan Peters, a spokesperson for the Bellingham Police Department. The two were in custody Tuesday, May 7, nearly 90 minutes after an initial news release was sent notifying the public about their connection to the case.
Officers responded to multiple calls of shots fired in the early morning of April 15 near Tull Road and Kellogg Road at an encampment. When they arrived, they found a group of people with one person in a cart who had a gunshot wound to the upper body. The people assisting didn’t identify themselves to law enforcement.
The man, Janusiewicz, was transported to a local hospital where he later died of his wounds. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide as a result of a shooting.
Court documents filed in Whatcom Superior Court on Tuesday detail what led up to the shooting.
A few hours before the shooting, Janusiewicz allegedly purchased $800 worth of fentanyl and was attempting to sell it to Jefferson based on phone calls and text messages sent between the two, according to court documents.
In law enforcement interviews with witnesses, they said Clark and Jefferson had been acting violently on the morning of April 15 and were targeting several people in the encampment, accusing them of stealing their money, according to court documents. It was at that time that Janusiewicz arrived at the encampment.
Clark and Jefferson upon seeing Janusiewicz with drugs and money, “turned on him and accused him of stealing from them,” according to court documents. Janusiewicz attempted to flee and Clark chased him with a gun, before tripping and allegedly firing off a round from the gun, hitting Janusiewicz.
Janusiewicz fell to the ground where Clark and Jefferson approached him and allegedly started kicking him until they noticed he was bleeding from a gunshot wound, according to court documents. They told a witness to grab a cart, then wheeled Janusiewicz out of the encampment.
Audio footage from a Ring camera at a townhome adjacent to the property captured loud yelling in the area before a gunshot is heard around 2:59 a.m., followed by screaming and other voices, according to court documents.
Clark and Jefferson were formally charged Tuesday with first-degree pre-meditated murder in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
