DNA found on a cigarette butt and lamp stand inside the apartment of a Vancouver woman who was killed in May led detectives to the man suspected in her death, court records show.
David James Barker, 44, a transient, was arrested Friday in Portland by the U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of 66-year-old Sharon Allison, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
Allison was last seen alive on the morning of May 8 talking to an unidentified man in the hallway of her Columbia House apartment building at 130 W. 24th St. The next day, police found her body inside her apartment.
Allison had mental and physical disabilities, court records said. Her body was discovered when her caregiver became worried after not hearing from her. She stopped by Allison’s apartment at about 11:30 a.m. May 9. The caregiver and then the floor monitor knocked on her apartment door. After receiving no answer, they called 911.
Vancouver police responded and searched Allison’s one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. They found her body inside an 80-gallon, blue recycling bin in her living room, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Clark County Superior Court.
During the course of their investigation, detectives found a cigarette butt in Allison’s bathroom. They later learned she did not smoke. Detectives also seized a “lamp stand leg with a decorative circular trim piece detached from the bottom” near Allison’s body, the affidavit said.
An autopsy conducted on Allison’s body May 10 found she died of blunt-force head trauma. The medical examiner noticed a pattern of injuries at the base of Allison’s head with corresponding skull fractures, court documents said.
Detectives later determined the lamp stand was likely the weapon used. Further examination found the decorative trim piece aligned with the pattern of injuries on Allison’s body, according to court records.
The DNA found on the cigarette butt was determined to belong to an unknown male. On Nov. 20, police ran the DNA against the Washington State Patrol’s DNA database, and it came back as a match to Barker, the affidavit said.
DNA found on the lamp stand leg was a possible match to Barker’s DNA, court records show.
On Dec. 10, a maintenance man, who was the last person to see Allison alive with the man she was talking to, identified Barker in a photo lineup, court documents said. A warrant was issued for Barker’s arrest last week.
In 1984, Allison was the victim of an assault that left her with head trauma. She suffered an aneurysm and stroke years later that surgeons said was a delayed effect of the injury, according to Allison’s sister, Betty Minor.
After the aneurysm, Allison underwent surgery and nearly died several times. She was left disabled on the left half of her body. Walking was difficult, and she had severely reduced mental capacity, her family said.
Family members told detectives that Allison was “naively trusting and easily taken advantage of,” according to the affidavit.
Court records do not say how Allison and Barker knew each other or if there was any sign of forced entry into her apartment. There is also no mention of a motive.
Barker was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on Friday night, according to a Vancouver police bulletin. It’s unclear when he will be transported to the Clark County Jail.
Barker had been arrested April 12 on a charge of second-degree malicious mischief, court records show. He pleaded guilty April 27 in Clark County Superior Court, was given a 20-day sentence and mandated to provide a DNA sample. His next contact with law enforcement was Nov. 21 with the Portland Police Bureau, according to court documents.
