Second murder charge laid in 1987 killings of Saanich pair
EVERETT, Washington — A Washington state trucker who, authorities say, was linked by DNA evidence to the 1987 killings of a young Saanich couple has been charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder.
William Earl Talbott II, 55, of SeaTac was charged Friday in Snohomish County Superior Court.
The bodies of Saanich’s Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18, and her high school sweetheart, Jay Cook, 20, were found in 1987 about an hour’s drive apart in Washington state.
Talbott was arrested in May and charged with the first count of first-degree murder in Van Cuylenborg’s death, with investigators saying at the time that they expected to lay a second charge in Cook’s death after gathering more evidence.
At the time, Cook’s sister, Laura Baanstra, was close to tears as she praised science and good old-fashioned police work that makes it “harder and harder for these disturbed individuals to hide in the shadows.”
“It’s hard to put into words this feeling of relief, of joy, or great sorrow that this arrest brings,” Baanstra said. “The hole that was left in our hearts will never be filled completely. The work done here by all these incredible hardworking professionals, both now and 30 years ago, has helped make that hole smaller.”
Authorities say they used information from public genealogy websites to pinpoint Talbott as a suspect, then arrested him after getting a DNA sample from a cup that fell from his truck.
“From all available information, these acts of violence were as random as they were savage,” Craig Matheson, Snohomish County’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor, wrote in court documents.
Talbott is being held in the Skagit County Community Justice Center with no bail. It wasn’t clear if he has a lawyer.
Van Cuylenborg and Cook left their Saanich homes for an overnight trip to Seattle to buy furnace parts for Cook’s family business. When they failed to return home, their families filed a missing persons report. Their bodies were found days later.
Van Cuylenborg had been sexually assaulted, bound with plastic ties and shot in the head. Investigators say the assault evidence provided a direct link to Talbott.
Cook’s battered body was found about 120 kilometres away. Police say he was beaten with rocks and strangled.