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<< Previous   of   Next >> Playing cards with photographs of cold case victim  (click to enlarge)  Photo Gallery: Cold Case Cards   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Unsolved murder devastated family 9/7/08 • Man's 1999 beating death remains a mystery 8/31/08 • Cold case: Family of Monroe woman angry that killer is still out there 8/24/08 • Cold Case: Man, 24, was gunned down during dispute 8/10/08 • Cold case: Father was shot to death at his Lynnwood-area home 8/3/08 • No one would say how inmate was killed 7/27/08 • Cold case: Man's body was found dumped in lot 7/20/08 • Nearly everything about Lake Stickney shooting victim a mystery 7/13/08 • Can you help police solve 2005 slaying? 6/29/08 • Police seek clues in 20-year-old slaying 6/22/08 • Police seek help in 2005 slaying 6/15/08 • Police seek clues to missing boy 6/8/08 • Detectives hope answers to cold cases lie in a deck of cards 5/25/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, June 1, 2008 Police seek clues to 2005 murder By Diana Hefley Herald Writer BOTHELL -- The house was home to violence. Douglas "Skip" Erlandson was bludgeoned to death in his Bothell house. More than a decade earlier, inside those same walls, his daughter, Kayla, 2, was tortured and killed. His wife was sent to prison for the toddler's murder. Police have yet to arrest anyone for Erlandson's 2005 death. The killing is among those featured in the state's first cold-case playing cards. Snohomish County sheriff's detectives handed out the cards to jail inmates on Wednesday in hopes of soliciting tips about unsolved homicide and missing person cases dating back to the 1970s. Erlandson is on the seven of diamonds. His homicide is the newest case assigned to the sheriff's cold case team. "Since it's a newer case there might be more people in jail with information than an older case," sheriff's detective Jim Scharf said. Erlandson, 60, was battered with a blunt object. He never regained consciousness and died Dec. 17, 2005. His son, Shea Erlandson, told police he came downstairs to find his father covered in blood and seated in a living room chair, court records said. He left the house and called 911. Police later announced the slain man's ex-wife, Noreen Erlandson, had been ruled out as a suspect. The couple divorced in 2002. The former nurse spent about 12 years behind bars for Kayla's death. She was released in 2004 after a state Supreme Court ruling called in to question dozens of murder convictions across the state. Noreen Erlandson was set free after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and receiving credit for time already served. Shea Erlandson, 21, moved out of the house where his father and sister were beaten to death. He bought a new house last year. A short time later, a Kirkland man was shot to death while attending a Halloween party Shea Erlandson was hosting in his new home. An Ellensburg man is awaiting trial in the shooting. Police don't believe the slayings are connected. "There's a lot of violence surrounding that family," Scharf said. Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com. About this series Snohomish County sheriff's detectives created the state's first deck of cold-case playing cards. Each Sunday for a year, The Herald will publish a story about a case featured on one of the cards. Anyone with information about unsolved homicides and missing persons cases is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 800-222-TIPS (8477). Up to $1,000 is offered for tips that lead to an arrest and conviction. Tips also can be called into the sheriff's tip line at 425-388-3845. Callers may remain anonymous, although tips have been shown to be more successful when callers leave their phone numbers and are willing to speak with detectives, police said.

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