Realtor murder in Woodinville still perplexing: `Unsolved Mysteries' to air case again
2001-11-28 by Noel S. Brady Journal Reporter
dg> BTW The case is still unsolved
WOODINVILLE -- Nearly a year after a Bellevue real estate agent was stabbed repeatedly inside a Woodinville house he was showing, detectives are no closer to understanding why Mike Emert was murdered or by whom.
Despite the lack of clues, Emert's widow, Mary Beth, and her mother, Betty Chandler, still believe someone has information that could answer those questions. They hope a $50,000 reward being offered by Emert's employer, Windermere, and the Eastside real estate community will entice someone to call the police.
``I think it's critical that as many people as possible know what information we have,'' Chandler said. ``It's our only chance for finding out what really happened.''
On Dec. 4, ``Unsolved Mysteries'' on the Lifetime cable network will tell Emert's story for the second time. This time, Chandler said she hopes more people will tune in than did during the show's first airing, two days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast.
``The show really had no exposure at all,'' she said. ``Like everyone, I was in a bummer, so I wasn't watching TV at all. I certainly don't think many people were watching `Unsolved Mysteries.'''
The segment originally was set to air in October, but producers moved it up after the attacks because the segment they had planned to air Sept. 13 dealt with terrorism. They thought that subject matter would be inappropriate so soon after Sept. 11.
For Mary Beth Emert, not knowing why her husband was killed has made her ordeal doubly difficult. She said she hopes national exposure will bring answers.
``It is important we have that final closure -- that we know whoever did this is brought to justice,'' she said. ``It doesn't really matter what punishment they receive. Just knowing who did this and what their reasons for doing it were will be important for my daughter. She's only 12.''
A respected Windermere real estate agent who dealt in million-dollar homes, Mike Emert was known to many as an honest, forever-smiling family man. After scouring his background, detectives found nothing that would typically link someone with foul play.
That fact alone has them stymied, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart, because they have yet to find a possible motive for the murder.
A woman living in the Woodinville house Emert was showing when he was killed arrived home around lunchtime Jan. 4 to find her door ajar. As she walked in, she heard running water upstairs and noticed a trail of blood leading to an upstairs bathroom. There she found Emert, stabbed 20 times and lying dead in the bathtub.
Earlier that day, Emert had written in his day planner he was to meet a real estate shopper named Steven. He told his wife he had shown houses to a man named Steven the previous day. He mentioned that the man was moving here from California and that he seemed a little peculiar. He appeared to be in his 50s and walked with a limp, using a cane.
The prospective buyer was interested in looking at a particular home a second time. The house was in a large private lot set apart from neighbors. And it wasn't one of the homes Emert was selling. The previous day, Emert mentioned to his wife he thought it was strange the limping man never wanted to view houses where residents might be home.
Since the beginning of their investigation, detectives have said it's highly unlikely Emert was attacked randomly or that he had stumbled on a burglary. In fact, they've said the crime scene was so thoroughly devoid of evidence, including DNA, that they suspect the murder was committed by a professional hit man.
``What's most unusual about this case is we still don't have a motive,'' Urquhart said. ``Usually in these cases there's something to do with sex, drugs or money. It's just not there.''
While no single detective spends all his time solely on the Emert case, Urquhart said, two detectives do still spend part of their time almost daily working on new leads. So far, they've managed to exclude all Emert's known relatives, friends and business associates as possible suspects.
``I kind of stop at the fact that Mike is no longer with us; he's gone,'' Mary Beth Emert said. ``I can't focus too much on the fact that somebody took his life, otherwise I probably wouldn't get up and function every day. ... I hope that at some point we'll get some answers.''
Since his murder, Emert's office at Windermere in Bellevue has remained vacant. Standing amid boxes of her son-in-law's business documents, blueprints and ceramic mementos, Chandler said Windermere, where she works, too, has yet to fill his position out of respect for his wife, who works with her.
Having worked as an agent just down the hall from Emert for eight years, Chandler said she knows the murder has shaken many agents. Now her company recommends agents leave a prospective customer's driver's license or car keys at the office.
Chandler said she now calls her own voice mail with the license plate number of her prospect's vehicle before showing a house.
``I think it's easy for agents to become fearful because they know one of their own was killed,'' she said. ``But for me, I know it wasn't Mike or because he was an agent. This isn't a person running around killing real estate agents, because why wouldn't they have picked an unoccupied home?
``I think Mike was surprised. Something was in that house. I think when they got to that house, it was totally unexpected.
``I think Mike fought like hell.''
KOMO TV reporter Molly Shen contributed to this report. Noel Brady can be reached at noel.brady@eastsidejournal.com or 425-453-4252.
KNOW SOMETHING?
Anyone with information about the murder of Mike Emert is asked to contact the King County Sheriff's Office at 206-296-3311, or call King County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-CRIME-13. |
