Sammamish man killed in Pullman was helping son move



PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — An autopsy has found that a 58-year-old Sammamish man who was killed in Pullman last weekend died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Police have arrested the man's son, 24-year-old Erik Luden, and charged him with first degree murder. He is being held on $500,000 bail.

Pullman police found Virgil Luden lying unconscious in the apartment on Saturday.

Investigators believe he was struck by Erik Luden's fists and possibly a kitchen pot and table knife.

Erik Luden told police that his father attacked him with a knife and that he defended himself.

Erik Luden had recently been a Washington State University student.

Police say Virgil Luden traveled from Sammamish to the Pullman apartment Saturday with the intent of assisting his son in moving back to Sammamish.