NEWMAN LAKE, Wash. – A Newman Lake man faces second degree murder charges in the death of his girlfriend over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Nicholas Holden, 29, was arrested and charged Friday after his girlfriend of two years was found dead in a home on the 14000 block of North Meadow Lane.
Newman Lake Fire Department personnel responded first to the scene, according to court documents, and found the victim covered in bruises and other marks.
One of the emergency responders asked Holden if that was the victim’s condition when he found her and he replied “We got into it last night. It was bad,” according to court documents.
Holden’s father told detectives the suspect and victim had come over for Thanksgiving. He said he convinced Nicholas Holden to stay the night because he had been drinking, then had gone to bed.
Nicholas Holden told investigators he and the victim had gotten into an argument after his father had gone to bed. He said the argument escalated into a physical fight in an upstairs bedroom but they moved through all three levels of the home during the fight, according to court documents.
He said they eventually calmed down and “passed out together on the basement floor,” according to the documents. He told investigators he woke up twice overnight to the victim unresponsive, bleeding and vomiting, but cleaned up the mess and went back to sleep. The third time he woke up, according to court documents, at 8 a.m. he “started panicking” and called his mother.
Investigators noted in the documents he had only called 911 after talking to his mother.
The suspect's father said he woke up and found Nicholas standing outside the house, talking on the phone. He said he went downstairs and discovered the victim and believed she had been beaten up.
"It looks like you beat the s**t out of her," he told investigators he had said to the suspect. He went on to say his son admitted to him they he and his girlfriend had "got into it last night" and claimed he did some self-defense.
Investigators said the victim had multiple abrasions on her torso, consistent with having been dragged over a rough surface like that of the textured concrete floor in the basement. They said it appeared she had suffered a severe beating.
Holden made his first appearance in court Monday. His bail is set at $1 million.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office has not publicly identified the victim, so she is not identified in this story.