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Charges in transient's death filed
Thursday, August 19, 1999
By ELAINE PORTERFIELD
David Ballenger's life ended brutally under a freeway overpass with 18 stab wounds and a beating so savage it broke five ribs in what prosecutors described as an apparent unprovoked attack.
One of the three young men charged yesterday in Ballenger's death, 17-year-old Jay Stewart, reportedly told a friend "Let's just say there's one less bum on the face of the earth" after the slaying on Aug. 9.
King County prosecutors yesterday charged the three with second-degree murder in the death of the 46-year-old man who lived under a North End freeway overpass. One of the suspects is under suicide watch, a defense attorney said yesterday.
Ballenger's body, which also bore numerous cuts and bruises, was found in a small camp he'd set up under an Interstate 5 overpass at Northeast Ravenna Boulevard.
Stewart has been charged as an adult. He and friends Shelton Musgrave, and Michael Caffee, both 18, are being held on a $500,000, cash-only bail. Neither Caffee nor Musgrave appear to have any previous criminal history, although Stewart has one misdemeanor arrest as a juvenile for theft, prosecutors said.
Stewart, a Marysville resident who attends Lakewood High School, also told a friend that he intended to blame Ballenger's death on Musgrave and Caffee, court papers said.
Caffee's father said he's convinced that his son, a Nathan Hale High School student, had nothing to do with Ballenger's death.
"This is all very much anathema to us," said Patrick Caffee of Seattle. "I believe in my boy 100 percent. He's not capable of anything like what we've heard."
Musgrave's family declined to comment before speaking to an attorney. Stewart's family could not be reached.
John Henry Browne, who is representing Caffee, said initial interviews with his client and authorities indicate that not all the facts about the case may yet be known.
"There's a lot of difference in any alleged culpability between the three fellows," he said.
Caffee is being held in a psychiatric cell at the King County Jail, Browne said.
"He's on a suicide watch," he said. "We're real worried about him. This is a really hard one for me, because I have an 8-year-old son and this young man looks like my kid grown up."
Court papers gave the following account of Ballenger's death:
On Aug. 10, Seattle street maintenance workers called police after several men reported finding a body under the overpass. Police came and found Ballenger and the charred remains of some clothes and bedding. They also found a substantial amount of blood.
Officers interviewed Caffee, who apparently was one of the young men who alerted the street workers. He told them that the previous night, he had been with his friends Musgrave and Stewart, and watched as Stewart assaulted Ballenger.
Caffee initially denied seeing Ballenger stabbed. But in a later interview, he admitted that he, Musgrave and Stewart had tracked Ballenger down at his camp. There, Musgrave and Stewart repeatedly kicked and hit Ballenger, with Stewart also choking the man.
Stewart then asked him for the knife he carried, Caffee said. He handed over the knife, and watched as Stewart repeatedly stabbed Ballenger. Stewart then handed the knife to Musgrave, who stabbed Ballenger several times as well.
Then, Stewart, saying he was worried about leaving his "DNA" at the scene, pulled off Ballenger's sweater and burned it along with some bedding.
After they were through, Stewart gave the knife back to Caffee, who dumped it in a storm drain. Police later pulled the knife out of the drain.
Musgrave told police he had nothing to do with stabbing Ballenger, saying he only handed the knife to Stewart. His boots appeared to be stained with blood, police said.
Stewart admitted to police that he attacked Ballenger, saying he choked him into unconsciousness, according to charging papers. But it was Caffee who actually stabbed the man, he said.
The three suspects will be arraigned Aug. 26.
P-I reporter Elaine Porterfield can be reached at 206-467-5942 or elaineporterfield@seattle-pi.com
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