The suspect in the Sifton Market homicide and arson was a frequent customer who told detectives he went there Sunday to rob the clerk.
Mitchell Heng, 21, made a first appearance Friday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and first-degree arson.
The former Heritage High School student was arrested Thursday at a relative’s apartment in the vicinity of the burned-out strip mall.
According to court documents, Heng admitted to police that he went to Sifton Market early Sunday morning to rob Amy Marie Hooser, 47, who was the store manager.
Heng told detectives he followed Hooser to the back of the store and robbed her, taking $80 and a carton of cigarettes — then started the fire and fled.
He refused to tell investigators how Hooser was killed, the affidavit states. An autopsy showed she died of blunt force trauma and smoke inhalation, and her death was ruled a homicide by the Clark County medical examiner.
Hooser’s body was found amid the rubble of the convenience store at 13412 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd. after a three-alarm fire ripped through the four-unit Sifton Plaza, which also housed a barber shop, a pet supply store and a pet grooming business.
On Friday, Judge Scott Collier set Heng’s bail at $2 million. The judge scheduled his arraignment, when he will be formally charged, for Feb. 1.
Though prosecutors haven’t indicated one way or another, it’s possible Heng could face the death penalty if he is charged with aggravated murder. Washington state law defines aggravated murder as a murder committed in the course of certain other felonies, including first-degree robbery and arson.
Video footage
After the fire, police detectives recovered video surveillance footage. According to court documents, it shows Hooser arrive at work at about 5:10 a.m. Sunday and begin preparations to open the store.
Then a man, later identified as Heng, enters the store and appears to request a key. At that point she walks toward the rear of the store and the man follows her. Hooser is not seen on the video footage again, detectives wrote.
Heng returns into the camera’s view with a dark-colored stain on his shirt that appears to be blood, according to the court documents. Heng then took a carton of Marlboro cigarettes and set it on the counter and next was seen carrying a lighter and coffee filters, which he appeared to ignite in the office area of the store, according to the affidavit.
After detectives viewed the footage, they interviewed another employee of the market who recognized the man as a regular customer. He said he knew the man also frequented High 5 Cannabis, a nearby marijuana shop. At High 5, an employee helped identify the suspect as Heng.
Detectives and members of the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT team arrested Heng at a relative’s house, 6407 N.E. 107th Place, Thursday. Then they served a search warrant at the apartment where Heng had been living, 13608 N.E. 72nd St., according to court documents.
When he was shown the surveillance video, Heng said, “That’s me,” court records state.
“Obviously, this was a violent and premeditated crime, very heinous in nature,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kasey Vu said.
Heng already has a felony record. In 2013, he was convicted of second-degree assault on an acquaintance and served nine months in jail. His criminal history also includes a 2008 disorderly conduct case, Vu said.
Scott Spencer, a longtime friend of Hooser’s, attended Friday’s court hearing and said that he plans to attend every hearing until the case is finished.
Spencer described Hooser as a warm, considerate and funny person who had a lot of good friends.
“I can’t believe somebody could do the things that he did to my friend,” he said. “We’re just all devastated that something like this could happen to someone so full of life.”
Spencer, 50, said he often escorted Hooser to work because she didn’t like opening the store by herself on the weekends.
“I wish I would have gone with her (Sunday.) I probably could have prevented this whole thing,” he said.
Hooser had just returned to work Saturday after missing several weeks due to emergency surgery. She wasn’t feeling too strong but went to work anyway, Spencer said.
“To have this all happen on her second day back …it’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s the worst it could possibly be.”
Hooser was a mother of three daughters and a Vancouver resident. She had attended Fort Vancouver High School and Washington State University, according to her Facebook page.
A candlelight vigil is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Diamond R Fast Tracks And Go Karts, 13510 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd.
