Police say Redmond woman admitted she killed her wife after learning of an affair

SEATTLE -- A 27-year-old Redmond woman was charged Monday with second-degree murder in the strangulation death of her wife.

Bail was set at $3 million for Aterraka Scotland.

She is accused of killing her wife, Tiffany Scotland, 26, in their Redmond apartment on March 29.

In asking for the high bail, the King County Prosecutor's Office said, "the defendant admitted to killing her wife after learning that she was having an affair. After strangling her wife to death, she then employed the assistance of two other people to help cover up the crime by stabbing the victim's body to make it appear that the victim was robbed.

"The defendant further admitted that she and her two associates planned to dispose of the body at a later time. Between the time of the killing and her arrest, the defendant assumed the victim's identity by using the victim's phone and sending text messages as the victim, presumably in an attempt to show that the victim was still alive."

In the court documents, the prosecutor's office said that since her arrest, Aterraka Scotland made several calls to her family in Georgia and asked for help to bail her out of jail "so she can leave the area."

"After telling her mother that she killed Tiffany, the defendant states 'I want to hurry up and get out of here.' Her mother responds, 'When you get out of there, you better leave town." The defendant then states, "I plan on it.  I just want to have a fresh start somewhere."

The court documents state that her mother asks if it was self-defense. "Technically, yeah, but this is the one state they're not going to take my side because of the way I look and the way I dress."

In court documents, police said Aterraka told detectives she had confronted Tiffany about having an affair and that they started wrestling. She said that she put Tiffany in a "sleeper hold" until she became unresponsive. She realized then that Tiffany was dead. The King County Medical Examiner's Office said Tiffany died from stangulation.

The prosecutor's office said that during the murder investigation, it was discovered that Aterraka Scotland is also a suspect in a 2016 aggravated assault case in which she allegedly attacked her male roommate with a hammer, striking him in the head and causing serious injuries.