Murder charge for man accused of assault with steel pipe in Bremerton

The suspect in a gruesome murder Monday morning attacked a woman with a three-foot long steel pipe, unprovoked, killing her in the driveway of a Northlake Way home, according to a witness.

A 60-year-old man at the scene of the incident called 911 around 8:40 a.m. to report an assault on a woman he had driven to the property. The witness had fled the scene after a man at the home, Matthew Earl Allen, 61, began striking 60-year-old Kristine Margaret Marander, who died following the attack, and threatened him as well.

Allen was arrested minutes later by Kitsap County Sheriff's deputies and taken to Kitsap County Jail, and was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder, including a domestic violence allegation, which can enhance the penalty, in Kitsap Superior Court. He is expected to make an initial appearance in court Tuesday afternoon.

The witness told deputies that he had known Marander for two or three months, and had given her a ride to Bremerton, where they had made several stops through the early hours of the morning, before arriving at the Northlake Way home to pick up her cell phone. The witness said he had been at the Clearwater Casino and Resort around midnight, by himself, when Marander approached him, according to a probable cause statement used to charge Allen with the crime.

Allen, who lived at the property, walked toward the witness and victim when they arrived, holding a large steel pipe, according to court documents. The witness told detectives that Allen initially hit his car with the pipe, then after Marander exited the passenger side door she was struck several times in the head. Allen then allegedly struck the car again, and detectives later reported cracks on the windshield and damage to the car's hood, before turning to continue to hit the victim as she laid on the ground.

The witness told detectives that Allen then walked around the car to the driver's side and stated "I had to kill her." The witness then drove from the scene, telling detectives that Allen chased after the car for a short time. The driver then stopped and called 911 to report the assault.

When deputies arrived minutes later Allen was standing over Marander's body, and one deputy reported hearing metal striking concrete as they approached. When confronted at gunpoint Allen dropped the pipe, later measured at 3 feet long and 2 inches in diameter, and laid down on the ground to surrender.

Allen then acknowledged to another deputy that he had attacked Marander and confirmed that he knew her. After he was arrested Allen told a deputy "he had made a mistake," according to the probable cause statement. Allen again confirmed to KCSO that he had struck Marander and acknowledged an intention to kill her. Allen also reportedly said Marander had stayed in a camper on the property, and later, after being booked into jail, was heard by a jail nurse saying he killed his "girlfriend," according to court documents.

KCSO deputies initiated CPR on Marander, and Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue crews arrived to attempt to transfer the woman to a medical facility. She was declared deceased at the scene before being taken to a hospital, however.