Seattle man charged after fire kills Wallingford woman, 72

More than a month after a 72-year-old woman died from a fire in her Wallingford home, a 25-year-old software engineer was charged with first-degree murder and second-degree arson in King County Superior Court.

Letian Shi was arrested July 10 in connection with the killing of Susan Lisette Klee. He is being held in the King County Jail. Prosecutors are requesting $4 million bail, arguing Shi is a threat to the community.

The charging documents allege Shi started a fire at a park on June 4, with the Seattle Fire Department responding at 12:28 a.m. Later, SFD responded to a fire at 1:09 a.m. at Klee’s home in the 3800 block of Sunnyside Avenue North, where Shi allegedly started a blaze on the front porch.

The fire spread through the house, and firefighters found Klee unconscious within 10 feet of the back door, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Thomas O’Ban wrote in charging documents. Shi allegedly walked away from the fire after setting it.

Klee died from a lack of oxygen two days later at Harborview Medical Center, a Seattle police detective wrote in a report.

Klee lived alone at the house for more than 40 years and was not married, nor did she have any children, a family member told police.

Police used camera footage from nearby homes as well as from a Dick’s Drive-In to identify Shi, according to the charging papers. One of Klee’s neighbors identified Shi, saying they saw him have a suspicious interaction with her before the fire, according to the police report.

Investigators worked backward, according to the police report, looking for a man wearing dark clothing. Camera footage from the night of the fire showed a man discarding a Dick’s Drive-In bag, leading police to the Dick’s at 111 N.E. 45th St. There, police were able to match the description of the man who set the fire, who had a dark jacket, dark pants, dark shoes with the same hairline and dark pixelation around the eyes as the suspect had in the other videos, according to the report.

Police identified Shi swiping a card and receiving a white bag from the cashier. From Dick’s, he headed toward Klee’s home and set the fire, according to the police report.

Shi’s name from a credit card used at Dick’s matched Department of Licensing records for a man who lived at 15th Avenue Northeast, about a mile and a half from the fire, according to the police report.

Security camera footage from the University of Washington captured Shi walking toward his home, with fire trucks passing him with flashing emergency lights, according to the police report.