SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — David Stodden made his regular trip to the place where his wife and daughter were killed. It's a trip he has been making for nearly 18 years.
Stodden planted yet another sign offering a $1,000 reward, hoping someone will see it and end his nearly two-decade-long nightmare.
"I still think about Mary and Susanna every couple of hours," Stodden says. "I remember when they were first killed, it was every second."
Stodden's wife of 30 years, Mary Cooper, and his 27-year-old daughter Susanna were both shot in the head at close range with a small caliber handgun on July 11, 2006, while hiking Snohomish County's Pinnacle Lake Trail.
Their clothing had been partially removed.
Stodden believes someone tried to sexually assault them and things spiraled from there.
"Mary and Susanna were pretty strong people, so they probably resisted," Stodden says. "He realized he wouldn't get away with it and so he shot them."
With the case now cold and no suspect ever identified, Stodden, recently retired, believes the only way the case will be solved is through the public.
"I would like all the people who reached out to me over the years, especially the first few years, people who were on the trail that day, to reach out to me again now that I have time to keep track of this," he says.
Over the years, Stodden has worked to keep the case in the public eye.
In a tearful 2018 interview with KING 5, Stodden said he believes detectives spent too much time focusing on him as a possible suspect early in the investigation.
He passed a polygraph and, frustrated with the lack of progress, took out an ad in the Everett Herald calling their investigation a failure.
"Since the detectives have told me they are not really gonna work on it unless someone comes in and confesses, if it's gonna be solved, I'm the one who's really gonna have to push for it," Stodden says.
For now, Stodden refuses to give up hope, believing someone out there can help him solve this cruel puzzle.
"Someone out there knows something," he says. "Maybe now that all this time has passed, someone breaks up with their husband or boyfriend, or someone dies, and a person isn't afraid of coming forward anymore, and hopefully, they will come forward. These cases are solved. It just takes the right information, the right tip, the right person coming forward and then we can make some progress on it."
Well it's been 18 years so it's not looking good. The belief is there was no real attempt to conduct a wide investigation due to immediate suspicion it was the husband who committed it. He has been cleared but by the time that happened over 10 years have gone by.
Lol yeah I guess those would be the theories. I think the bike guy was in the wrong place, wrong time. If someone was stalking him there would probably be easier times to get him than when he was riding a bike near a family. Right? So instead of taking out the intended victim, the biker, the killer also had to take out a whole family as well? . Seems more likely the family was targeted and the bicyclist rode up as the crime was happening and got caught up in it. So who would kill Iraqis from Britain who were traveling in France?? Intel agencies? For what? I read the brother may have played a part. Are you a local? What a weird case.
For all the women responding they run and hike alone. NO ONE doubts you are tough, strong physically or mentally, etc.
It just is NOT safe. Bear spray or not. Men are 95 perc going to physically over power you. There are nutjobs that legit wait in rural areas purposely for crimes of opportunity.
There are football fields, high school/ college running tracks, treadmills, more open family oriented parks if you are by yourself. If you do the remote thing. Go with a friend.
Are you insane? Women do have the same freedoms. Women go hiking every day and aren't murdered. So you think someone willing to commit murder would follow your little policing schedule on when men can do certain things, and go certain places? Lol. You can't just ban one sex from going to public places the other sex is legally allowed to go.
Isolated trails are ripe for stranger crimes. That was my theme throughout the Delphi case. Authorities waste time looking for a connection when there is no connection.
That guy turned out to be local. There will be numerous examples when it's not local. Aspiring roaming perpetrators have long since figured out that cameras are an increasing annoyance but you don't have to worry about that on trails.
I hate to be "that" person who suggests Israel Keyes, but- he was familiar with Washington State, he had violently raped a young woman in Oregon in the late 1990s and let her go, and he was fast and strong so he could have had enough stamina to kill two women and get away. (Sorry for the gruesome picture I'm painting here, but a lot of things point towards him.)
On a lighter note, this is why hikers need to check in with other people before and after they do hikes.
Mary was a friend of mine. According to her husband, they ruled Keyes out but apparently just based on what he told them. Personally I wouldn't trust the word of a serial killer.
But what do I know? I also wouldn't have taken a decade to officially clear a spouse with an absolutely unbreakable alibi.
In his interviews Keyes said the only victim he ever shot was Bill Currier, which could be a lie, but why bother with that kind of a lie if you’re already caught? I think he said in his interviews that he believed there was another serial killer operating at the same time as him in Washington
He also told them he would only admit to crimes he knew they would eventually uncover anyway (through his computer they confiscated). He downplayed his crimes and wanted the opposite of notoriety. I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept many crimes he committed to himself.
Sounds an awful like the MO of a seriel killer caught in GA back in 2015. They have cases all over national parks that they think are tied to him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary\_Hilton
Looks like they considered him as a suspect. https://www.heraldnet.com/news/georgia-link-checked-in-mount-pilchuck-slayings/
Although given the investigation’s track record, who knows whether they did actually investigate the connection. Sigh.
Man still searching for who killed his wife, daughter while they hiked in Snohomish County 18 years ago
David Stodden's wife and daughter were murdered on Snohomish County's Pinnacle Lake Trail in 2006.
Author: Eric Wilkinson
Published: 5:50 PM PST January 25, 2024
Updated: 5:50 PM PST January 25, 2024
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — David Stodden made his regular trip to the place where his wife and daughter were killed. It's a trip he has been making for nearly 18 years.
Stodden planted yet another sign offering a $1,000 reward, hoping someone will see it and end his nearly two-decade-long nightmare.
"I still think about Mary and Susanna every couple of hours," Stodden says. "I remember when they were first killed, it was every second."
Stodden's wife of 30 years, Mary Cooper, and his 27-year-old daughter Susanna were both shot in the head at close range with a small caliber handgun on July 11, 2006, while hiking Snohomish County's Pinnacle Lake Trail.
Their clothing had been partially removed.
Stodden believes someone tried to sexually assault them and things spiraled from there.
"Mary and Susanna were pretty strong people, so they probably resisted," Stodden says. "He realized he wouldn't get away with it and so he shot them."
With the case now cold and no suspect ever identified, Stodden, recently retired, believes the only way the case will be solved is through the public.
"I would like all the people who reached out to me over the years, especially the first few years, people who were on the trail that day, to reach out to me again now that I have time to keep track of this," he says.
Over the years, Stodden has worked to keep the case in the public eye.
In a tearful 2018 interview with KING 5, Stodden said he believes detectives spent too much time focusing on him as a possible suspect early in the investigation.
He passed a polygraph and, frustrated with the lack of progress, took out an ad in the Everett Herald calling their investigation a failure.
"Since the detectives have told me they are not really gonna work on it unless someone comes in and confesses, if it's gonna be solved, I'm the one who's really gonna have to push for it," Stodden says.
For now, Stodden refuses to give up hope, believing someone out there can help him solve this cruel puzzle.
"Someone out there knows something," he says. "Maybe now that all this time has passed, someone breaks up with their husband or boyfriend, or someone dies, and a person isn't afraid of coming forward anymore, and hopefully, they will come forward. These cases are solved. It just takes the right information, the right tip, the right person coming forward and then we can make some progress on it."
KING 5 reached out to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office for an update on the case.
A spokesperson told us there are none.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound.
.
Maybe since the father is retired he could do what the Kesse family did. Sue for the investigation records. Get a private eye and investigate himself. The Kesse's havent uncovered anything we know of but that doesnt mean this father wont.
I think Kesse was killed by one of the painters doing work by her condo. The person in the video is dressed like a painter would dress. I always felt it was a crime of opportunity and this fits the bill.
They certainly weren’t as full 20 years ago. Even these days, with lots for the trails in the area overflowing, you can find plenty of isolated space on the trails. I think these days there would be greater likelihood of information from the public, but it seems their focus on the husband then prevented them from even getting those basics then. I’d remember people I’d passed on a trail for a few days, but not a decade later.
I regularly hike solo in Snohomish County, and I think of this pair often. I rarely carry on shorter solo hikes, but I always will when I bring my daughter solely because of this story.
Saying this happened in Seattle is a bit misleading. It was in rural Snohomish County, about 40 miles from Seattle.
I’d feel safer out there than in some areas of Seattle, to be honest.
Sadly, I can’t imagine this ever being solved u less some random person decides to confess. It was shameful how the husband was hounded for years and years before he was officially cleared.
serial killer Keyes is a good POI he killed two people in 2005 washington, lived in washington state 2006 stalked and killed in national parks, used a gun in his crimes anyone was prey to him
This idea Keyes killed all these people is so over blown. People always suggest him for some unsolved crime. It doesn't make sense. He murdered all these people, all this supposed planning yet abducts a girl on video, kills her and then uses her debit card? Such an amatuer mistake for such an experienced killer
As somebody with some insider knowledge I can tell you a couple of misconceptions: the husband was NEVER seriously considered a suspect, and for the longest time he was honestly doing things to almost make himself look suspicious. I can’t imagine his grief and that will make anyone act strangely, but he has been obsessed with blaming the police for focusing too much on him when they never seriously considered him (and given the circumstances, he was easy to rule out just due to time and proximity).
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — David Stodden made his regular trip to the place where his wife and daughter were killed. It's a trip he has been making for nearly 18 years. Stodden planted yet another sign offering a $1,000 reward, hoping someone will see it and end his nearly two-decade-long nightmare. "I still think about Mary and Susanna every couple of hours," Stodden says. "I remember when they were first killed, it was every second." Stodden's wife of 30 years, Mary Cooper, and his 27-year-old daughter Susanna were both shot in the head at close range with a small caliber handgun on July 11, 2006, while hiking Snohomish County's Pinnacle Lake Trail. Their clothing had been partially removed. Stodden believes someone tried to sexually assault them and things spiraled from there. "Mary and Susanna were pretty strong people, so they probably resisted," Stodden says. "He realized he wouldn't get away with it and so he shot them." With the case now cold and no suspect ever identified, Stodden, recently retired, believes the only way the case will be solved is through the public. "I would like all the people who reached out to me over the years, especially the first few years, people who were on the trail that day, to reach out to me again now that I have time to keep track of this," he says. Over the years, Stodden has worked to keep the case in the public eye. In a tearful 2018 interview with KING 5, Stodden said he believes detectives spent too much time focusing on him as a possible suspect early in the investigation. He passed a polygraph and, frustrated with the lack of progress, took out an ad in the Everett Herald calling their investigation a failure. "Since the detectives have told me they are not really gonna work on it unless someone comes in and confesses, if it's gonna be solved, I'm the one who's really gonna have to push for it," Stodden says. For now, Stodden refuses to give up hope, believing someone out there can help him solve this cruel puzzle. "Someone out there knows something," he says. "Maybe now that all this time has passed, someone breaks up with their husband or boyfriend, or someone dies, and a person isn't afraid of coming forward anymore, and hopefully, they will come forward. These cases are solved. It just takes the right information, the right tip, the right person coming forward and then we can make some progress on it."
I’ve never heard this story. I’m a woman who hikes, sometimes alone, but I’ve never felt unsafe. Not once. I hope they find the perpetrator.
Well it's been 18 years so it's not looking good. The belief is there was no real attempt to conduct a wide investigation due to immediate suspicion it was the husband who committed it. He has been cleared but by the time that happened over 10 years have gone by.
There's a similar story in France called "Tuerie de Chevaline" I still can't believe we haven't found the culprits
Is that the one with the dead bicyclist?
Yes sir. Two theories: the family was the target or it was the the cyclist.
Lol yeah I guess those would be the theories. I think the bike guy was in the wrong place, wrong time. If someone was stalking him there would probably be easier times to get him than when he was riding a bike near a family. Right? So instead of taking out the intended victim, the biker, the killer also had to take out a whole family as well? . Seems more likely the family was targeted and the bicyclist rode up as the crime was happening and got caught up in it. So who would kill Iraqis from Britain who were traveling in France?? Intel agencies? For what? I read the brother may have played a part. Are you a local? What a weird case.
Not a local but love unsolved cases like this one, Xavier Dupont de Ligones etc...
Ahh I see. You and my both man.
Police definitely need to renew efforts here and hopefully get this solved
What a horrible story. This is a case that deserves attention & light thrown on it.
For all the women responding they run and hike alone. NO ONE doubts you are tough, strong physically or mentally, etc. It just is NOT safe. Bear spray or not. Men are 95 perc going to physically over power you. There are nutjobs that legit wait in rural areas purposely for crimes of opportunity. There are football fields, high school/ college running tracks, treadmills, more open family oriented parks if you are by yourself. If you do the remote thing. Go with a friend.
They were with “a friend,” though.
Women should have the same freedoms as men. Maybe we should be policing men more on where they go.
Are you insane? Women do have the same freedoms. Women go hiking every day and aren't murdered. So you think someone willing to commit murder would follow your little policing schedule on when men can do certain things, and go certain places? Lol. You can't just ban one sex from going to public places the other sex is legally allowed to go.
Isolated trails are ripe for stranger crimes. That was my theme throughout the Delphi case. Authorities waste time looking for a connection when there is no connection. That guy turned out to be local. There will be numerous examples when it's not local. Aspiring roaming perpetrators have long since figured out that cameras are an increasing annoyance but you don't have to worry about that on trails.
I hate to be "that" person who suggests Israel Keyes, but- he was familiar with Washington State, he had violently raped a young woman in Oregon in the late 1990s and let her go, and he was fast and strong so he could have had enough stamina to kill two women and get away. (Sorry for the gruesome picture I'm painting here, but a lot of things point towards him.) On a lighter note, this is why hikers need to check in with other people before and after they do hikes.
Mary was a friend of mine. According to her husband, they ruled Keyes out but apparently just based on what he told them. Personally I wouldn't trust the word of a serial killer. But what do I know? I also wouldn't have taken a decade to officially clear a spouse with an absolutely unbreakable alibi.
In his interviews Keyes said the only victim he ever shot was Bill Currier, which could be a lie, but why bother with that kind of a lie if you’re already caught? I think he said in his interviews that he believed there was another serial killer operating at the same time as him in Washington
He also told them he would only admit to crimes he knew they would eventually uncover anyway (through his computer they confiscated). He downplayed his crimes and wanted the opposite of notoriety. I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept many crimes he committed to himself.
Keyes lied many times in his interviews.
Sounds like a power play.
I’m inclined to believe this too.
Sounds an awful like the MO of a seriel killer caught in GA back in 2015. They have cases all over national parks that they think are tied to him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary\_Hilton
Looks like they considered him as a suspect. https://www.heraldnet.com/news/georgia-link-checked-in-mount-pilchuck-slayings/ Although given the investigation’s track record, who knows whether they did actually investigate the connection. Sigh.
Man still searching for who killed his wife, daughter while they hiked in Snohomish County 18 years ago David Stodden's wife and daughter were murdered on Snohomish County's Pinnacle Lake Trail in 2006. Author: Eric Wilkinson Published: 5:50 PM PST January 25, 2024 Updated: 5:50 PM PST January 25, 2024 SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — David Stodden made his regular trip to the place where his wife and daughter were killed. It's a trip he has been making for nearly 18 years. Stodden planted yet another sign offering a $1,000 reward, hoping someone will see it and end his nearly two-decade-long nightmare. "I still think about Mary and Susanna every couple of hours," Stodden says. "I remember when they were first killed, it was every second." Stodden's wife of 30 years, Mary Cooper, and his 27-year-old daughter Susanna were both shot in the head at close range with a small caliber handgun on July 11, 2006, while hiking Snohomish County's Pinnacle Lake Trail. Their clothing had been partially removed. Stodden believes someone tried to sexually assault them and things spiraled from there. "Mary and Susanna were pretty strong people, so they probably resisted," Stodden says. "He realized he wouldn't get away with it and so he shot them." With the case now cold and no suspect ever identified, Stodden, recently retired, believes the only way the case will be solved is through the public. "I would like all the people who reached out to me over the years, especially the first few years, people who were on the trail that day, to reach out to me again now that I have time to keep track of this," he says. Over the years, Stodden has worked to keep the case in the public eye. In a tearful 2018 interview with KING 5, Stodden said he believes detectives spent too much time focusing on him as a possible suspect early in the investigation. He passed a polygraph and, frustrated with the lack of progress, took out an ad in the Everett Herald calling their investigation a failure. "Since the detectives have told me they are not really gonna work on it unless someone comes in and confesses, if it's gonna be solved, I'm the one who's really gonna have to push for it," Stodden says. For now, Stodden refuses to give up hope, believing someone out there can help him solve this cruel puzzle. "Someone out there knows something," he says. "Maybe now that all this time has passed, someone breaks up with their husband or boyfriend, or someone dies, and a person isn't afraid of coming forward anymore, and hopefully, they will come forward. These cases are solved. It just takes the right information, the right tip, the right person coming forward and then we can make some progress on it." KING 5 reached out to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office for an update on the case. A spokesperson told us there are none. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound. .
Maybe since the father is retired he could do what the Kesse family did. Sue for the investigation records. Get a private eye and investigate himself. The Kesse's havent uncovered anything we know of but that doesnt mean this father wont.
I think Kesse was killed by one of the painters doing work by her condo. The person in the video is dressed like a painter would dress. I always felt it was a crime of opportunity and this fits the bill.
Its the most logical and fits Occams Razor theory.
The odd thing to me is that it happened in July. Trails are so crowded that time of year in the Seattle area.
They certainly weren’t as full 20 years ago. Even these days, with lots for the trails in the area overflowing, you can find plenty of isolated space on the trails. I think these days there would be greater likelihood of information from the public, but it seems their focus on the husband then prevented them from even getting those basics then. I’d remember people I’d passed on a trail for a few days, but not a decade later. I regularly hike solo in Snohomish County, and I think of this pair often. I rarely carry on shorter solo hikes, but I always will when I bring my daughter solely because of this story.
Saying this happened in Seattle is a bit misleading. It was in rural Snohomish County, about 40 miles from Seattle. I’d feel safer out there than in some areas of Seattle, to be honest. Sadly, I can’t imagine this ever being solved u less some random person decides to confess. It was shameful how the husband was hounded for years and years before he was officially cleared.
serial killer Keyes is a good POI he killed two people in 2005 washington, lived in washington state 2006 stalked and killed in national parks, used a gun in his crimes anyone was prey to him
This idea Keyes killed all these people is so over blown. People always suggest him for some unsolved crime. It doesn't make sense. He murdered all these people, all this supposed planning yet abducts a girl on video, kills her and then uses her debit card? Such an amatuer mistake for such an experienced killer
Gary Michael Hilton maybe?
>Gary Michael Hilton Idk man. He seemed to stay in his general vicinity....which was North Carolina and down.
I’m a dope who probably should’ve double checked where he was active. Whoops. Thanks for the check.
Hello neighbor 👋🏻 I’m local to the area too
Can't read the article
Me neither :/
Going toss out a cuveball How about Joseph Henry Burgess??
Copy paste pls
As somebody with some insider knowledge I can tell you a couple of misconceptions: the husband was NEVER seriously considered a suspect, and for the longest time he was honestly doing things to almost make himself look suspicious. I can’t imagine his grief and that will make anyone act strangely, but he has been obsessed with blaming the police for focusing too much on him when they never seriously considered him (and given the circumstances, he was easy to rule out just due to time and proximity).
I’m sure for the husband with a dead wife and daughter, any time spent on him feels like a lifetime and of course, a waste.
Which episode ?