Slaying may be tied to man killed in blast

PUYALLUP, Wash. – A sex offender and bomb maker who died in an apparently self-detonated explosion that destroyed a house outside Puyallup may be linked to the death of a man in Seattle.

Seattle police and Pierce County sheriff’s detectives were checking reports that Zane Dittman, 26, who was found dead following the explosion at the home where he was renting a room, once worked at a construction site where the body of Noel Lopez, 25, was found Monday morning of injuries to the head and torso.

“We are forwarding them our investigation,” Pierce County Detective Ed Troyer said. “We will help them in any way we can.”

Late Monday night the couple that rented Dittman the room came home to find him making bombs, sheriff’s deputies said. Shortly after deputies arrived to investigate, the house was destroyed by an explosion and fire. Dittman’s body was found the next day.

“He was trapped. He wasn’t going anywhere,” Troyer said. “We’re guessing he intentionally set it off.”

Tacoma police, following reports filed on consecutive days last May, investigated Dittman to determine whether he sexually abused the children of a former landlord and an acquaintance. No charges were filed.

During the same period, three masked men beat and robbed Dittman at his residence, police Officer Mark W. Fulghum said. No one was arrested, nor did investigators determine whether the attack was linked to the sex abuse accusations.