Bail set at $2 million for man accused of killing Pierce County mother of two

TACOMA, Wash. -- A 29-year-old Graham man accused of killing an Orting mother of two was arraigned in court Wednesday afternoon. A judge set bail at $2 million for the man charged with second degree murder.

Sheriff's detectives said Jonathan Harris took Nicole White, 28, of Orting, out on a date on the night of June 6, allegedly beat her to death in his home afterward, then wrapped her body in a plastic tarp and left it in woods off a rural logging road.

Search teams found Nicole's body on Saturday. Harris, who was last seen with her, told detectives that after they left Jeepers bar in Spanaway together on June 6, she left him at a gas station and drove off.  Investigators said they believe that is a lie.



"This appears to be either a first or second date," Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist said. "They met in a public place, then they went back to his house and, we believe based on what a neighbor said, that`s where the murder took place. She was heard screaming late that night and then the screaming abruptly stopped."

Prosecutors say GPS records from Harris’ ignition interlock device and his cell phone show he returned the next day to the site where the body was discovered.

Charging documents also reveal investigators found the sweatshirt Harris was wearing the night he was with Nicole and that DNA from blood on that sweatshirt was a match to Nicole's.

"This case is almost an example of how not to commit a murder," Lindquist said. "The  defendant was seen in public with the victim, he saved his sweatshirt, which had her blood on it, and he left a trail of his travels through his cell phone so police were able to track him on the night of his murder."

Nicole's family said they were relieved there has been an arrest. They planned to be in court Wednesday when Harris answers to a charge of second-degree murder.

One of Harris’ neighbors say the accusations come as a surprise.

“When they first said he was a person of interest, I said they are going to have to prove it to me because I didn’t see him doing anything like that,” said Karen Hunt.

Right now his charge stands at second-degree murder, but that could change.

Prosecutors said they are waiting on the medical examiner’s office to release Nicole's exact cause of death, which they said has been hard to determine since her body had decomposed.

Harris' next court appearance is scheduled for July 29.