SPOKANE, Wash. — A homicide suspect who caused an hour-long standstill and standoff on I-90 Wednesday will remain in jail on $2 million bond, a judge ruled Friday.
Damian Eiffert is charged with the second-degree murder of his father, Robert. Police say he stabbed his dad and stole his car Tuesday afternoon.
The evidence, to see police tell it in an affidavit, was all around after Robert Eiffert was stabbed. It didn't take long before Damian was the only suspect, after neighbors and even surveillance video showed him leaving the scene on Thor Street.
One neighbor told police he saw Robert "all cut up" laying in the building's doorway. He said he knows Damian and knows he's "been kicked out multiple times."
A second neighbor told police he saw "Boby" lying on the front porch with blood coming from his neck and chest; he said he watched as Damian exited, jumped "over Boby's body," then drove away in his father's car.
Investigators also said in court documents surveillance video showed a man matching Damian's description leave through the front door with a dog and walk to a nearby car. Police say the video showed the victim walk out and slump just outside the door as the suspect got into the car.
That video also captured the neighbor walking over to check on the victim as he lay on the porch, police said.
It was all evidence that led to Damian Eiffert's arrest less than 24 hours later, after an hour-long standoff on the interstate.
Though a lot is still unclear for Raeline Eiffert.
“Nothing anyone would ever expect to happen with my son," she told KREM 2 News by phone Friday.
Evidence showed she was one of a handful of people Damian admitted the murder to, according to the affidavit.
"I love you. I'm done," he reportedly told an ex-girlfriend. "I just killed my dad."
Police say Raeline and Damian spoke by phone shortly after his father's stabbing, his mother describing him as "amped up and all over the place."
"The defendant stated he asked his dad Robert Eiffert for a ride to treatment but he said no," the affidavit says. "The defendant stated he could not take his dad anymore and stabbed him to death."
From her Wyoming home, Raeline said this evidence and accusations don't match the son she knows.
“This is not my son’s behavior, ever," she said. "My son has always been kind, caring. He’s sensitive.”
“The defendant has an extensive criminal history including eight felonies, ten adult misdemeanors two of which are failure to obey anti-harassment orders," a prosecutor explained to Judge Andrew Biviano, adding Eiffert has 40 instances of failing to appear for court.
Investigators say Robert was stabbed five times in the head, neck and chest.
Raeline says Damian lived with his father from the time he was ten. Now she plans on traveling to Spokane from Wyoming to be there for him as his murder case progresses.
“His family is standing behind him," she said. "We will help him get through this tragedy."
Eiffert does not yet have another court date scheduled.