Documents: Accused killer who posted crime scene photos online confessed he was drunk, angry

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. -- The man accused of murdering his girlfriend and posting gruesome photos on the Internet wrote a confession admitting he strangled her, according to charging documents.

Kitsap County prosecutors on Friday charged David Kalac, 33, with first-degree murder, domestic violence and a special allegation for aggravating circumstances due to the impact on persons other than the victim.

Kalac surrendered to police Wednesday night in Wilsonville, Oregon. He fled the state after the victim, 30-year-old Amber Coplin, was found dead in her Port Orchard home on Tuesday.



Coplin died from strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head, the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office said Thursday.

Kitsap County sheriff's detectives said Clackamas County deputies provided them with a note found when Kalac turned himself in to police.

According to detectives, Kalac admitted to strangling Coplin and wrote, "I had no reason other than I was drunk and she pissed me off."

Investigators said the writing and style was consistent with ink and writing at the homicide scene in Kitsap County.

Kalac appeared in Kitsap County Superior Court Friday afternoon. Kalac did not enter a plea and a hearing for that purpose was set for Nov. 14. He was ordered held on $2 million bail.

Suspect surrenders

Police in Portland spotted Kalac driving the victim's car early Wednesday morning. Police tried to stop the vehicle, officers said, but Kalac allegedly sped away and led police on a high-speed pursuit before escaping.

Officers found the car abandoned around 4:30 p.m., but Kalac was nowhere to be found.

At 8:45 p.m., Kalac walked out of the woods in Wilsonville, approached a police officer and said he had a warrant out for his arrest.

Wilsonville police took Kalac into custody and transported him to a Portland police precinct where he was interviewed.

A grisly scene

Along with the crime scene, police are focusing on a set of graphic photos posted to various image hosting sites purported to be of the Coplin’s death. The photos were posted anonymously, but police believe Kalac posted the photos before he left for Portland. The graphic nature of the photos had multiple harming effects on the community, experts and sheriff’s deputies said.

Kitsap County deputies brought him back to Washington on Thursday.

The victim’s estranged husband, Paul Coplin, told Q13 FOX News he wants everyone to know that his son did not see the graphic photos and the family is doing everything they can to protect him from the trauma.

A candlelight vigil will be held for Coplin at 6 p.m. Saturday at the marina in Waterfront Park in Port Orchard.