PORTLAND, Ore. — After a daylong search that crossed state lines, the suspect in a gruesome Port Orchard murder was captured at a Wilsonville TriMet station Wednesday night, Clackamas County dispatch confirmed.
David Kalac, 33, was accused of beating his girlfriend, Amber Coplin, to death and leaving behind a grisly crime scene in their Port Orchard, Wash., apartment Tuesday afternoon.
Deputies said he posted photos of the gruesome crime scene online and said on social media that he was hoping to die from "suicide by cop."
After eluding police during a high-speed chase early Wednesday morning, the suspect's getaway car was found abandoned in Portland Wednesday afternoon, according to Kitsap County police.
Just before 8 p.m. tactical teams were arming themselves close to where the car was found.
Just after 8:30, officials had surrounded a nearby home, shouting, "David Kalac, we have a warrant out for your arrest."
Around 9 p.m. Clackamas County dispatchers said Kalac had been taken into custody at the Wilsonville WES Station.
High-speed chase
Following the murder, police said Kalac fled Port Orchard in Coplin's gold 2001 Ford Focus, which was spotted by police in Southeast Portland just after 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Officers tried to pull the car over at Southeast 9th Avenue and Powell Boulevard, but the driver sped away and led police on a high-speed pursuit across the Ross Island Bridge. Then the driver exited onto Southwest Barbur Boulevard and police stopped chasing him, because he was dangerously swerving into oncoming traffic.
Investigators believe Kalac was driving the vehicle. That did not see anyone else inside the car.
Police said that car was found abandoned in Portland around 4:30 p.m. They did not initially specify where in Portland the car was found due to the ongoing investigation.
At 7:45 p.m., Kitsap County Sheriff's Office publicly released the car's southwest Portland location.
"I can say from experience that when people ditch cars they want to get as far away from them as possible," said Sgt. Pete Simpson of Portland police.
Killer left cryptic messages
Someone anonymously posted graphic, naked photos of the Port Orchard murder victim on the image-sharing website 4chan before police arrived to investigate. The unnamed writer also included horrific details of the killing, saying she fought as he strangled her. Deputies later confirmed that they believe Kalac wrote the chilling descriptions and posted the photos.
Kalac lived with Coplin, 30, and her 13-year-old son in the Port Orchard apartment. The teen told police the couple had a "very loud argument" the night before and he stayed in his bedroom. He left the next morning without seeing his mother, who he assumed was sleeping, according to court documents obtained by KGW-TV.
When police found Coplin dead in her bedroom, she was surrounded by hand-written messages, according to the probable cause document. Writing on a picture said, "She killed me first." On the blinds were the words, "bad news," and "dead" was written across her drivers license.
Investigators said Coplin "had obvious homicidal violence to her body" and neighbors told them they heard "loud thumping and banging noises coming from the apartment" during the night, according to the probable cause document.
They also learned that Kalac sent an odd text message to a friend hours after the murder, stating that people will see him "in the news" soon.
Before his arrest, Kalac had an active warrant for his arrest, for second-degree murder and domestic violence out of Kitsap County, Wash. The judge said his bail would be set at $2 million after capture.
