Seattle man who reached out to homeless may have been slain by one he had helped
When David Koenigs told his family he had hired two homeless men to help him remodel a house, his son didn't give a second thought to the Thanksgiving dinner-table discussion.
Koenigs, formerly the director of St. Vincent de Paul in Seattle, which provides services to the needy, often talked about giving people a second chance. For Koenigs, 57, charity and family were the two most important things in life.
But Koenigs' charitable motives were taken advantage of, prosecutors say, when one of the men he hired stabbed, strangled and beat him to death at the home Wednesday. Seattle firefighters who put out an arson at Koenigs' Beacon Hill fixer-upper that night found his body in the yard.
Richard Jones, 32, and two other people were arrested Thursday at a gas station in Rice Hill, Ore., with Koenigs' BMW. Plainclothes Oregon troopers who had stopped at the same station ran the car's license plate after one of the people asked them for gas money. Troopers quickly discovered Seattle police had entered information about the stolen car in a national law-enforcement database.
Jones had permission to stay in the fixer-upper. But Wednesday, Koenigs confronted him about letting others stay there and was killed, charging papers say.
Koenigs and his wife, Tamara Jeu-Koenigs, bought the house last month. Matt Koenigs said his father planned to fix it up, then sell it.
Though relatives are still trying to comprehend what happened, on Friday his son said they plan to pursue Koenigs' efforts to help less-fortunate people. They are calling for people to donate to Seattle's Union Gospel Mission or other charities that help the homeless.
"We would like to turn this horrible tragedy into something good," said Matt Koenigs, 25. "Just because three people are a very bad act, it doesn't mean people who sleep on the street should be punished."
Matt Koenigs said his father was always there for him and his two siblings when they were growing up. He recalled his father attending his sporting events and the pair handing out Christmas toys to low-income families.
"He always wanted to improve the situation for those who weren't blessed with good jobs or good homes," Matt Koenigs said.
David Koenigs was born in Everett to a family of four children. He attended Shoreline High School and obtained an MBA degree from the University of Washington. He held several jobs before going to work for the Stillaguamish Indian Tribe. From 1990 to 1997, he was executive director, meaning he managed about 30 people and oversaw all federal grants, tribal member Eddie Goodridge Sr. said.
"He was really liked at the tribe when he worked there," Goodridge said.
While Koenigs was working for the Stillaguamish, it wasn't uncommon for him to put in extra hours. He had an annual tradition of making spaghetti for the tribe's general-council meeting, Goodridge Sr. said.
A program that Koenigs helped start to assist tribal members find new jobs after fishing, logging and other traditional vocations had dwindled is still popular, Goodridge said, and has expanded to other north Puget Sound tribes.
Koenigs was proud that his grandmother was a member of the Native Village of Afognak, a tribe based in Alaska.
"In working for the tribes, he wanted to give back to the tribal communities, even if it wasn't his Alaskan tribal community," Matt Koenigs said.
Koenigs went to work for St. Vincent de Paul in the late 1990s.
Jones was charged Friday with first-degree murder and arson. He allegedly set fire to the house, according to King County prosecutors. Douglas Freeman, 31, and Ashley Boggess, 21, were charged with rendering criminal assistance.
All three transients also were charged with vehicle theft and booked into Douglas County Jail in Roseburg, Ore. They're expected to be extradited to Seattle, Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said.
The second homeless man who was remodeling the house is not linked to the crime.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
Seattle Times news researcher David Turim and Seattle Times staff reporter Sara Jean Green contributed
to this report.