Seattle man confesses to brutal murder of girlfriend before attacking University of Washington nurse

LOS ANGELES — Disturbing court documents describe the arrest of a 26-year-old man charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault after a woman was found dead in a flooded townhouse.

King County prosecutors charged Andy Chu, who told investigators he was “possibly responsible for her murder.” Documents indicate the victim was Chu's girlfriend, who was visiting from Hawaii.

Seattle police were called Saturday to Chu's townhouse in the Olympic Hills neighborhood of Lake City in the 3000 block of Northeast 133rd Street.

According to charging documents, the woman's body was discovered when neighbors saw water coming from the row house and called the landlord.

When police and firefighters arrived, they found a bathtub full of water and a running sink. Police said the victim was found lying on her back with a neck wound. “An ice pack was on her neck and a small block in the neck was supporting her head.”

She also had “possible dried blood on her arms, shoulders and chest, as well as a grainy substance covering those areas,” the documents say.

In addition, the autopsy revealed a large, heavy white ball lodged in her throat at the base of her tongue.

According to charging documents, the victim was killed sometime between August 9 and 10.

Prosecutors said Chu twisted her neck and held her underwater in a bathtub. The autopsy also found that the woman suffered blunt force trauma to her face, head, neck, chest, arms and legs. Police reports also state that “there was no shower head on the pipe.”

Surveillance footage provided by a neighbor showed Chu and the victim identified in court documents entering the townhouse with groceries on August 9.

The next day, Chu is videotaped leaving his house alone before friends take him to the hospital because he is behaving “erratically.”

Police arrested Chu early Sunday at UW Medical Center Northwest after staff there called 911 to report that a nurse had been assaulted. Court documents say that “a patient in the emergency room assaulted her by grabbing her breasts and attempting to pull her head down by hooking her neck.”

After his arrest, Chu told investigators he was in “a critical condition” that caused him to leave the townhouse. He told police he had taken two molly pills and smoked marijuana.

Court documents state: “He said his girlfriend was there after she had just arrived from Hawaii, where she lives. He said he thought he might have killed her.”

He also told police he had “a memory of choking her, twisting her neck, and holding her underwater in the tub.” He said he believed he broke her neck and “remembered the bleeding from her nose, which he wiped away.”

According to the documents, he told investigators during questioning that he pulled her out of the bathtub and placed her on the bathroom floor.

“He then tried various things to revive her, including sprinkling her with acai powder and putting a golf ball-like ball in her mouth to set her jaw.”

Court records also show that he admitted to taking two doses of the drug Molly.

The state set Chu's bail at $5 million. His next court date was scheduled for August 28.