Man charged in woman’s death returns to Washington

This image released by the Portland, Ore., Police Bureau, shows David Kalac, 33, who police say is a suspect in the killing of a woman in Port Orchard, Wash., where graphic photos of the victim’s body were posted online hours before police found the body. (AP Photo/Portland Police Bureau)

SEATTLE—A man charged with killing his live-in girlfriend and posting photos of her lifeless body online was returned to Washington state on Thursday after he surrendered to an officer in Oregon and waived extradition.

David Kalac, 33, arrived at the county jail in Port Orchard, west of Seattle, late Thursday afternoon, sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson said.

Kalac was arrested Wednesday night nearly 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the crime scene after a daylong manhunt. He was held overnight in Portland, Oregon, on a second-degree murder charge.

Authorities allege Kalac killed Amber Lynn Coplin, 30, earlier this week after an argument in their Port Orchard apartment.

He then posted graphic photographs of her body and commented about the killing online, Wilson said. The images appeared on 4chan, an online bulletin board where hundreds of private pictures of nude celebrities appeared earlier this year.

Kalac wrote about strangling the woman and his plan to be fatally shot by police. He posted the comments and photos anonymously, but authorities confirmed they were from him, Wilson said.

The Kitsap County coroner’s office said Thursday the cause of death was strangulation and blunt-force trauma to the head.

The county prosecutor’s office didn’t know yet whether Kalac had an attorney. His arraignment was scheduled for Friday afternoon in Superior Court in Port Orchard, Wilson said.

Kalac evaded police in Coplin’s stolen car until he emerged from a wooded area near Wilsonville, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Portland, and turned himself in to a passing officer, authorities said.

“He basically said, ‘I have a warrant for my arrest,’ ” Clackamas County sheriff’s Sgt. Nate Thompson said in a telephone interview. Kalac was cooperative, but he provided no details about how he got to Wilsonville, Thompson said.

Two Washington deputies went to Oregon to question Kalac and escort him back for booking into jail, Wilson said.

“The fact he voluntarily walked up and said, ‘I surrender,’ or something to that effect, it’s pretty amazing in some regard,” Wilson said Thursday. “We were not expecting that, but we’re glad it occurred in that matter.”

Police responded to the couple’s apartment after Coplin’s 13-year-old son found her body Tuesday.

Near Coplin’s head was her driver’s license with the word “dead” written on it. “Bad news” was written on blinds. And the words “she killed me first” were scrawled on a picture on the wall.

An officer spotted Coplin’s car early Wednesday in Portland and tried to pull over the driver. A chase ensued, but it was called off because the vehicle was swerving into oncoming traffic.

Kalac has a criminal history in Washington state and Virginia that includes convictions for assault, burglary and drunken-driving, Wilson said.