A Washington mother-of-seven’s killer has finally been identified more than two decades after her body was found dumped in vegetation – but he cannot be charged.
Investigators with the Island County Sheriff’s Office were able to confirm that Carl D. Schlobom, 69, killed Tamara ‘Tammy’ Mattson, 39, over a dispute about a drug deal, and left her body at Camino Island State Park – where it was located on December 9, 2003, the sheriff’s office announced on social media last week.
But Schlobom, who is currently serving a life sentence without parole for another murder in Arizona, cannot be prosecuted because he now suffers from advanced dementia.
Authorities explained that deputies spent six years pursuing leads and interviewing Mattson’s acquaintances.
Then in the summer of 2009, the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab was able to develop a DNA profile from a minute amount of human biological material fund on a cigarette butt that was lying in a parking lot near where Mattson’s body was found.
The DNA matched that of Schlobom, whose genetic material had already added to the national database following his conviction in Arizona.
Yet that only proved that Schlobom was at the park – and not that he was at the scene when Mattson was killed.
So detectives continued their investigation into Schlobom, trying to learn everything they could about him and his connection to the mother-of-seven, while also ruling out other potential suspects from DNA collected from other litter at the park.
Investigators with the Island County Sheriff’s Office were able to confirm that Carl D. Schlobom, 69, killed Tamara ‘Tammy’ Mattson, 39, a mother-of-seven
Her body was found dumped in vegetation on December 9, 2003
By 2019, then-Detective Shawn Warwick and Detective Ed Wallace went to the Arizona prison to question Schlobom about Mattson’s death.
But he refused to answer questions, and the investigation was put on hold during the COVID pandemic.
Meanwhile, Mattson’s family continued to push for answers with each anniversary of her passing.
‘I called and I called and would have a conversation, and they’d explain to me they don’t have enough and if they heard anything, they’d let me know, but I stayed on Tammy’s case for many, many years,’ Mattson’s aunt Debra Darling told KOMO.
‘I wanted justice for her mother and her kids, she deserved that.’
Finally in April 2021, Schlobom wrote a letter to Island County detectives saying he had information about Mattson’s death and that – in exchange for a long list of demands – he would provide information about the murder.
‘Of all his crazy demands, the only one I considered was to allow him to spend the rest of his life in a Washington prison, if he turned out to be the murderer and pleaded guilty,’ Prosecutor Greg Banks said.
Mattson’s family continued to push for answers with each anniversary of her passing
He then arranged a ‘free talk’ with Schlobom, where they could question him under a temporary grant of immunity.
‘Without his confession, we were stuck,’ Banks explained. ‘This allowed him to speak candidly, and allowed us to verify that he was the killer before we would negotiate any kind of deal.’
Following the interview, detectives were confident they had the Mattson’s killer.
‘We’re always wary when talking with a suspect who is trying to get a deal from us,’ Banks said.
‘But in this case everything he said was consistent with what we knew and was information that nobody else could have known. His memory was quite good at the time.’
Schlobom then agreed that, once prison transfer arrangements were finalized between Arizona and the Washington Department of Corrections, he would sign a sworn confession and be charged in Island County with premeditated murder in the first degree and kidnapping in the first degree.
But detectives could not reach a deal for Schlobom to serve his sentence in Washington rather than being transferred back to Arizona.
At the time, the Washington Department of Corrections was releasing prisoners who were most at risk of COVID.
Without the guarantee Schlobom could stay in Washington, he refused to sign a confession – and without a confession, there was no proof he was the murderer and he could not be charged.
Investigators were able to connect Schlobom to the scene from DNA found on a cigarette butt
Last year, an extradition official also told Banks the two states might be willing to work something out, and Banks tried to rekindle the negotiations, but attempts to reach him were met with silence.
Eventually, one of Schlobom’s family members reached out to Banks and told him that Schlobom suffered a series of debilitating strokes and had advanced dementia.
She said she doubted Schlobom could read or understand the content of the letters that Banks had been sending.
Officials in Arizona then confirmed that Schlobom was suffering from advanced dementia last month, and said he is confined to the Special Needs Unit due to his need for round-the-clock care and monitoring.
‘He’s not charged with Tammy’s murder, but he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison and he has to answer to one,’ Darling said.
‘He has another one he’s going to have to answer to, one much bigger.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .