Suspect: Too drunk to remember night of Seattle mom's murder
37-year-old John Charlton is being held on $2 million bail while police investigate the grisly death of 40-year-old Ingrid Lyne
The man accused of murdering and dismembering a Seattle-area mom has a history of abusing women, a former girlfriend of John Charlton said.
Montana resident Heather Danishesfky told Q13Fox that she dated Charlton for six months. She can’t help thinking the fate that befell 40-year-old Ingrid Lyne could have been her own.
“Wow, that could have been me,” Danishesfky said. “That poor woman. That could have been me.”
Charlton, 37, is behind bars, charged with first-degree murder and theft of a motor vehicle.
Danishesfky said Charlton initially swept her off her feet.
“He was charming and witty, all of that,” she said. “Of course I was taken by him.”
But eventually, the relationship allegedly turned abusive. At one point, Charlton tried to choke Danishesfky, she said.
“A lot of the time it was when he was drinking,” she said. “He would get really angry.”
Charlton told police he was so drunk the night he’s accused of killing Lyne that he slept on a sidewalk. But police say after the two attended a Mariners game Friday and then went to a bar, Charlton apparently killed and cut up Lyne’s body in her own Renton bathroom. Then he dumped her body parts in a recycling bin in Seattle, using her car to transport her remains, investigators add.
An unidentified ex-girlfriend of Charlton’s in Seattle told police Charlton was a “mean drunk” but never assaulted her. Charlton, who sometimes stayed with the woman, was supposed to come over Saturday morning to help with yard work, but instead texted that “something had come up.”
Charlton’s alleged dark past isn’t exclusive to the women he dated. His parents sought a restraining order against him in 2006 after they said he took the movie “Hannibal” – about a cannibalistic serial killer – from a shelf and told his mom she should watch it and “beware.”
“He was a totally different person when he was on drugs and alcohol,” friend Jason Huffmaster told Q13Fox. “He came off as a normal guy, but he has his demons.”
Charlton’s next court appearance is April 27. He faces at least 28 years in prison if convicted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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