Richard Sitzlack arrested in Seattle Metro bus driver stabbing death, arrested 3 days later on another bus. Suspect had been tied to the murder of his roommate last year but was never charged. Victim id as Shawn Yim.
A man wanted for allegedly stabbing to death a Seattle metro bus driver was arrested riding the same bus line just three days later after the suspect allegedly macing and stabbing to death the victim bus driver.
Richard Sitzlack, 53, described as a ‘transient’ was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with second-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of King County Metro Coach driver Shawn Yim last Wednesday along his Route 70 bus route near the intersection of 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 41st Street, according to the Seattle Police Department.
Yim, 59, was attempting to keep a window open on the bus to prevent it from fogging as he drove, only for the passenger suspect to begin arguing with him, demanding that the window be closed, according to charging documents obtained by The Seattle Times.
‘I’m dying right now, hurry please, hurry please.’
Sitzlack was ‘speaking disparagingly’ about Yim when he initially maced him, kicked him between his legs before fleeing the bus, Seattle Police said. Yim called 911 and exited after Sitzlack, telling the dispatcher he needed authorities to come help him as soon as possible.
‘Yes, I need a police [officer] here at UW, U-District, Campus Parkway, please, I just got assaulted,’ Yim said, according to the 911 transcript. ‘Hurry please. He’s fleeing.’
Surveillance video from the area shows Sitzlack turning around and running at Yim before a tussle ensues. The two men began wrestling with one another and Yim can be heard telling the 911 dispatcher that he had been stabbed.
‘I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed, hurry please,’ Yim said, according to KIRO. ‘I’m dying right now, hurry please, hurry please.’
Authorities say Sitzlack sliced him badly enough to sever an artery and puncture his lungs, which led to Yim dying at the scene. Officers found a bloody knife in a garbage can about a half-block away, along with a Winchester knife sheath.
Suspect tied to murder of roommate last year but was never charged
Investigators were able to track down Sitzlack after a witness from the bus came forward and reported speaking to him at a homeless camp called Tent City 3 earlier in the day. A warrant was obtained to search the camp’s records system and a photo of Sitzlack’s driver’s license was found. The witness was allegedly able to identify him as the person who killed Yim.
A manhunt was launched to find Sitzlack, with cops releasing his photos and sharing them with other bus drivers and passengers. A driver of a different King County Metro Transit bus spotted Sitzlack riding and sleeping on his route early Saturday and notified police, circa 4:51 a.m, leading to the wanted man’s arrest according to SPD officials.
During police questioning, Sitzlack allegedly admitted to getting into an altercation with Yim, telling detectives ‘something to the effect of, ‘I’m sorry for what I did,’’ according to a probable cause affidavit. He also acknowledged that visible injuries on his hands and knuckles were from ‘the fight with the bus driver,’ the affidavit stated according to lawandcrime.
Court records show that this is the second killing that Sitzlack’s been tied to over the past two years, with a 2023 fatal stabbing involving his roommate — which unfolded about a mile away from the Yim slaying — being linked to him by Seattle Police.
Sitzlack claimed self-defense in the 2023 death and was never charged as a result of a lack of evidence according to KOMO News.
Yim’s death marks the first killing of a Metro Coach driver while on the job in Seattle in 26 years. Seattle Councilmember Rob Saka wrote on Facebook that a candlelight vigil was held on Saturday night to ‘grieve and honor’ Yim. Yim had been with the department for 7 years leading up to his death while at work.
