It’s a disturbing murder case out of Shoreline’s Richmond Beach neighborhood — a son is accused of killing his 70-year-old mom and decapitating her at her home on Wednesday.
Police arrested 29-year-old Collin Boldizsar after discovering the victim’s body during a welfare check at the home in the 1500 block of Northwest 195h Street. A King County judge on Thursday set Boldizsar’s bail at $2 million and found probable cause for second-degree murder.
“This was an extraordinary, violent offence, demonstrating that the defendant is a significant threat to community safety,” said Terry Carlstrom, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney, in court.
Heather Burns, who was shopping in Shoreline, describes the neighborhood as “a really nice area.”
People say crime doesn’t usually happen in the Richmond Beach neighborhood.
“Even though it’s a nice area, we’re all dealing with a lot of mental struggles right now,” she said.
Court documents say a neighbor heard “screaming” and “a series of loud thumping sounds” coming from the home around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
When the neighbor didn’t see the victim leave for work the next day, they called police for a welfare check.
Investigators say Boldiszar didn’t want to let deputies inside, but eventually deputies forced entry.
That’s when they “found the decapitated body of what appeared to be an adult female in an upstairs bedroom” and a baseball bat nearby.
Neighbors here didn’t want to comment on camera with KIRO7, but multiple people noted the mother and son had a troubled relationship.
Court documents also say there was a no-contact order against Boldiszar.
“According to the super form, he was living at the residence of the victim in violation of a court order,” Carlstrom said. Court documents said that the order stipulated Boldiszar “to not contact Collins directly, indirectly, in person or through phone calls or electronic means and to not come within 1000 feet of Collins’ residence.”
The victim is identified as 70-year-old Laurie Collins. She was a budget manager at Seattle Pacific University for the School of Theology. The university notified its community today and shared a statement with KIRO7, calling Collins a “treasured colleague” who will be “profoundly missed.”
The school’s full statement said:
“The university is deeply saddened by the death of our longtime and treasured colleague Laurie Collins, budget manager in the School of Theology. Many faculty, staff, and students have known and worked with Laurie during her more than 30 years at SPU. She was a loyal and dedicated assistant for many departments, and a faithful colleague whose devotion to Christ was evident through her work. She will be profoundly missed by the SPU community.”
Boldiszar is expected to be formerly charged on July 5 because of the holiday weekend.