Court documents reveal more about the man arrested in murder of Seattle woman

Man arrested in connection to woman's disappearance after Seattle Mariners game

Seattle police are still asking for the public's help in finding a missing 58-year-old woman who was last seen at Friday night's Mariners game.

SEATTLE - Seattle police arrested a 46-year-old man for murder and kidnapping in the case of a woman last seen at a Mariners game on March 31.

The suspect, identified as Brett Gitchel, was arrested on April 6 in connection with her disappearance. Gitchel was booked into King County Jail for investigation of murder, kidnapping, theft and assault.

Gitchel did not appear in court on April 7, but prosecutors argued that there was probable cause to hold him in jail for Kidnapping in the First Degree, Assault in the Second Degree, Theft in the First Degree, Attempted Murder, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Assault in the Fourth Degree.

According to probable cause documents obtained by FOX 13, Martinez-Cosman's vehicle was found on fire on April 2 just before 7 a.m. near Lewis Park on Golf Drive S. in North Beacon Hill.

Her body was found in Renton on April 14. Gitchel was additionally charged for second-degree murder.

Court documents say Martinez-Cosman met Gitchel at a Costco in Seattle on March 19, and the pair had met up a few times after that.

Photo provided by Seattle Police

According to court documents, Martinez-Cosman's friend and brother received texts from her phone on April 1. Both the friend and her brother said that the messages seemed "odd and uncharacteristic" of Martinez-Cosman. Police have not yet been able to identify who sent those messages.

Hours before she was reported missing on April 2, her adult son told family members that a man had woken him up in the middle of the night and told him that his mother had been hurt in a fall, and that he would take him to the hospital to see her, according to court documents.

Her son got in the car with the man. They drove around for a bit before the man stopped, got in the backseat and tried to put a bag over Martinez-Cosman's son's head and tried to choke him, court documents said.

The man then told the son that he was doing this "for his mother and to spare him from being committed to an institution because of his conditions," court documents said.

Her son was able to fight him off and get away. He was later found wandering alone in the woods in Renton.

He was unable to confirm to police whether his attacker was Gitchel.

Two days after she was reported missing, on April 4, the Costco in Seattle had reported a theft worth $10,000 of jewelry. This is the same Costco that Martinez-Cosman had met Gitchel at weeks before, according to court documents.

Court documents say surveillance footage captured the suspect and vehicle. The footage matched Gitchel's appearance and his tan 1999 Audi A6 with his license plate.

Gitchel was arrested at the Shoreline Costco just a day later. Authorities said he appeared to be wearing the same clothes captured on surveillance the day before.

When he was being interrogated, he denied knowing Martinez-Cosman and said he hadn't been to a Mariners game all year. He then later said he knew of her and had seen her around Costco before, according to court documents. When he was shown the photo of him and Martinez-Cosman at the Mariners game, he admitted to being there but said she left the game with someone else, court documents said.

Police said he had multiple cuts, bruises and scrapes on his body that appeared to be several days old. Detectives also observed apparent blood on the inside of his right shoe, according to court documents.

Court documents from a prior case obtained by FOX 13 News show Gitchel has had previous convictions of domestic violence, auto theft, drugs and lying to police.

Crime and Public Safety Seattle Instastories