A King County Superior Court judge dismissed two first-degree murder charges Thursday against Liam Harrison Kryger, the Seattle man accused of killing two unhoused men with an ax in separate attacks less than two weeks apart in February 2024. The hearing, conducted with Kryger appearing by Zoom, lasted less than three minutes before Judge Nelson Lee found him mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered him evaluated for civil commitment instead.
According to KOMO News, Lee based his competency finding on medical reports, though court minutes did not detail the medical findings underlying that decision. Alexandra Logan represented the state at the hearing, while Kryger's attorney represented him. The dismissal does not amount to an acquittal or any determination of whether Kryger actually committed the killings — it simply ends the criminal prosecution because he cannot currently be tried.
That legal distinction matters because Washington law treats incompetency dismissals very differently from acquittals. Under RCW 10.77.084 and 10.77.086, when a felony defendant is found unlikely to ever regain competency even after maximum statutory restoration efforts, courts are required to dismiss the criminal charges without prejudice and refer the person for a civil commitment evaluation under RCW 71.05, according to Washington state law. Dismissal without prejudice leaves prosecutors free to refile the murder charges if Kryger's competency is ever restored. Civil commitment, the dossier notes, is a wholly separate legal process from the now-dismissed criminal case, and court minutes did not state what will happen once that evaluation is complete.
A Year Fighting to Restore Competency
The case reached this point only after prosecutors tried, unsuccessfully, to make Kryger fit for trial. Under a July 2024 court order, he was committed to Western State Hospital for competency restoration treatment, where the court authorized involuntary medication in an attempt to render him competent, per Capitol Hill Seattle. That effort ultimately failed, setting up Thursday's dismissal.
Kryger's history with the mental health system predates the killings by years. He was arrested in 2018 for a violent burglary and stabbing in North Bend, Washington, and placed into a treatment program supervised by the King County Mental Health Court — but he failed to appear for a court review hearing in late 2019 and stayed off law enforcement's radar until his March 2024 arrest, the outlet reported.
Two Killings, Two Weeks Apart
Prosecutors allege Kryger killed Paul Ernest Ewell on February 10, 2024, and Daravuth Van on February 22, 2024, both with an ax and both with premeditated intent, per court documents cited by KOMO News. Ewell, 68, was found dead in an alcove behind the Seattle Men's Chorus office at 319 12th Ave, apparently sleeping and partially covered by a blanket when he was struck in the head at least three times, suffering severe injuries to his face and skull. The King County Medical Examiner's Office determined his fatal injuries were caused by a heavy, sharp object similar to a hatchet, ax or maul.
Ewell had lived for years in Seattle's Yesler Terrace neighborhood, maintaining a daily routine of setting up camp each evening and tearing it down each morning near Jefferson Street, according to Real Change. Neighbors held an impromptu vigil for him shortly after his death. The executive director of the Seattle Men's and Women's Chorus, outside whose offices his body was found, described the rapid succession of violent attacks as startling and deeply unsettling for the community, according to KING 5.
Van was found dead outside Town Hall Seattle at 1119 Eighth Ave, having been sleeping under blankets with his luggage nearby, which appeared undisturbed. Investigators said surveillance video showed Kryger approaching slowly, looking around, and swinging a long-handled weapon downward where Van was lying, passing him several times before returning shortly before 3:30 a.m. The King County Medical Examiner's Office found that Van suffered a fatal head injury caused by a sharp, blunt-force object.
From Ax Purchase to Arrest
Investigators traced the ax recovered when Kryger was arrested to a Project Source brand tool purchased at a Lowe's store on February 9, 2024 — less than 24 hours before Ewell was killed — with Lowe's providing surveillance video of the purchase, according to FOX 13 Seattle. Seattle police said surveillance video also showed a man carrying what appeared to be an ax near the scene of Ewell's death.
Detectives arrested Kryger on March 3, 2024, after former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said officers spotted him carrying an ax near Freeway Park; a Department of Corrections officer subsequently identified him from retail surveillance images. Seattle police said Kryger acknowledged he was the person depicted in surveillance images near the Town Hall scene. He was initially charged with one count of first-degree murder in Van's death and was later charged with two counts of first-degree murder after a first amended charging document filed in May 2024 accused him of killing both Ewell and Van; prosecutors alleged both men were unhoused and were targeted while sleeping outside less than two weeks apart. His original $5 million bail was revoked once the second murder count was added, and he was held without bail at the King County Jail until Thursday's dismissal. The court also signed a notice of ineligibility barring Kryger from possessing a firearm.
Part of a Larger Pattern of Violence
The killings occurred amid a documented surge in violence against unhoused people in King County. Homicides among people experiencing homelessness in the county doubled in 2022 compared with the 2017–2021 annual average of roughly nine per year, and remained elevated through 2024, according to the Seattle Times. In early 2024, local advocacy groups including the Women's Housing, Equality and Enhancement League and Women in Black held public vigils outside Seattle City Hall and Town Hall to honor Van, Ewell, and other unhoused residents killed on local streets; WHEEL reported that at least 32 homeless individuals had died in King County during that period.
For now, the criminal case is over, but Kryger's future remains unresolved. He will undergo a civil commitment evaluation under Judge Lee's order, a separate legal process that could determine whether he remains institutionalized. Court minutes do not indicate what happens after that evaluation, and because the dismissal was without prejudice, prosecutors retain the option of refiling the murder charges should Kryger's competency ever be restored.
