DNA from fight with intruder leads to man’s arrest

A woman who was attacked in her Vancouver home along the Columbia River last summer helped police identify a suspect in two ways, using her fighting spirit and her memory, police say.

Police arrested Mark A. Markussen of Washougal on Monday, more than three months after the alleged home-invasion robbery, first reported about 8:20 a.m. Aug. 17 in the 15300 block of Southeast Rivershore Drive, south of Evergreen Highway and the BNSF Railway tracks.

The woman told police she heard someone enter her garage and saw a strange man pointing what looked like a handgun at her.

She said the man grabbed her and forced her into her office, while asking her if anyone else was home, a police bulletin said.

Police said she used a ruse to escape briefly, but the assailant caught her in her driveway and forced her back inside.

Later, in a struggle with the intruder, she escaped again and fled to a neighbor’s home.

The first break in the case surfaced immediately, Detective Sgt. Scott Creager with the Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crimes Team said Wednesday.

The intruder had worn latex gloves but, in the struggle, the woman tore them and inflicted a small scratch on him. Detectives found a small amount of blood on her hands, believed to be his, and saved it for DNA analysis, Creager said.

Her physical injuries from the attack weren’t serious but she suffered emotional trauma, Creager said.

In describing the intruder, the woman mentioned that he looked like someone who had done some work for her, and she gave police the worker’s name as a possible suspect.

Creager said a detective confronted Markussen, who denied being the assailant.

In September, Detective Darren McShea had collected enough evidence to convince a judge to sign a search warrant to collect Markussen’s DNA, Creager said.

Detectives then met with Markussen and used a buccal swab, resembling a large Q-Tip, to remove a sample of his DNA in the form of cheek cells from inside his mouth, Creager said.

The sample was sent to the state crime lab, where scientists compared the DNA profile from the assailant’s blood with the profile from Markussen’s cheek cells. They determined it’s a very high probability they were from the same person, Creager said.

Markussen, 47, was being held on $250,000 bail Thursday night on suspicion of first-degree robbery, assault and burglary; unlawful imprisonment; and first- and second-degree theft, a jail employee said. He is to appear in court Dec. 3.

The theft allegations stem from a separate incident being investigated by the Camas Police Department, Vancouver police said.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.