Man accused of defrauding and killing 74-year-old he met on dating app, WA cops say
A duo was arrested in connection with the killing of a 74-year-old man in Washington, officials said.
Philip Brewer, 32, and Christina Hardy, 47, are accused of injecting Curtis Engeland with fentanyl before driving to “dump” his body, according to charging documents.
Police responded to Engeland’s Mercer Island home and learned he’d met Brewer on a dating app called Scruff, the documents stated. Police said he’d gone to get food with Brewer before the two went back to his home to watch a movie.
Engeland fell asleep. When he woke up, he learned of processing transactions on his debit cards and unauthorized bank transfers, the document stated.
Police believe Brewer and Hardy returned to Engeland’s home Feb. 23 and “violently confronted” him, according to a March 15 news release by police.
On Feb. 24, Engeland’s family reported him missing, and a Silver Alert was issued, police said. Eventually, investigators were able to determine the suspects in the case.
Video surveillance from a McDonald’s in Mercer Island showed Hardy driving Engeland’s car, the documents said.
Engeland’s partner had received a text from Engeland claiming he was going on a trip for three to six weeks and wouldn’t be able to respond to texts, the charging document stated.
The text further stated that Hardy “would be renting out the downstairs of Engeland’s home while he was away,” the documents said.
Officers and King County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team members began searching Grays Harbor County after using “GPS location history from the suspects’ cell phone activity.”
Engeland’s body was found in Cosmopolis, about 100 miles southwest of Mercer Island, police said.
Engeland was “still alive” when the group arrived at the “dump site,” police said, so “Hardy held him down while Brewer stabbed him in the neck with a knife,” the document stated.
On March 14, Brewer and Hardy were arrested in California on murder, kidnapping, identity theft and theft charges, officials said.
Mercer Island is about a 10-mile drive southeast of Seattle.
This story was originally published March 18, 2024 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Man accused of defrauding and killing 74-year-old he met on dating app, WA cops say."