Convicted murderer and sex offender arrested after fleeing to Mexico following new killing, cops say

The 56-year-old fled to Mexico days after 37-year-old Katie McQueen’s body was found in Lake Stevens, Washington

Mark Christopher Downey, 56, was taken into custody on suspicion of murdering a California woman in August (SCSO Registered Sex Offender Unit)

Police have arrested a man previously convicted of murder and rape who they say killed a woman in Washington state earlier this year.

Katie McQueen, a 37-year-old from Mariposa, California, was killed in the city of Lake Stevens on August 20. Police found her body with no clothes on and footprints nearby.

Now, Snohomish County police have placed 56-year-old Mark Christopher Downey in custody after a DNA sample linked him to her murder. Downey is a registered sex offender previously convicted of murder and rape of a child, local outlet King 5 reports.

The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab matched a DNA sample found on McQueen’s body to Downey on November 5, the Everett Herald reports, prompting police to search for him.

Downey was living in a group home for sex offenders earlier this year, the Herald reports. But, during a probation check in mid-September, a house manager told police Downey left weeks prior on his way to either Arizona or Mexico.

That’s when police discovered he was arrested in Mexico on August 25 – less than a week after McQueen’s death – for violating his probation. At that point, he was transferred to police custody in Arizona, according to the Herald. From there, he was brought to the Snohomish County Jail on November 20.

Police say Downey initially claimed during a that he never met McQueen. But over the course of a five-hour interview with police, Downey repeatedly changed his story, the Herald reports, citing court documents.

One of Downey’s stories included a version in which he only met McQueen once to drive her to the gas station, according to the Herald. He also claimed he watched someone else kill McQueen before later saying he killed McQueen in self-defense after she attacked him.

Eventually, Downey admitted to fatally stabbing the 37-year-old after she agreed to have sex with him but laughed when he couldn’t become aroused, the Herald reports.

Probably cause for second degree murder was found and Downey’s bail is set at $5 million, Snohomish County records indicate. The Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office has until December 13 to press charges, according to King 5.