John Jefferson
Inset: Zoey He (Facebook). Background: Seattle condo where He was allegedly murdered (KOMO/YouTube)
A Washington State man is behind bars after he “horrifically murdered” his girlfriend while high on Molly because she was “acting weird,” cops say.
Andy Chu, 25, is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of Zoey Suyun He, also 25. Chu’s neighbors called 911 shortly before 10:30 a.m. Aug. 10 because water was flowing out of his condo and they couldn’t get ahold of him, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. Seattle firefighters entered the unit in the 3100 block of NE 133rd Street and walked into a bathroom where they found a woman later identified as Ze dead and partially nude on the floor.
She reportedly had an ice pack on her throat and a block supporting the back of her head. She also had a granular substance later identified as Acai powder all over her body, the affidavit said. The victim was suffering from “severe traumatic assault” to her face, head, neck and chest, cops noted. Detectives identified He through her Hawaii driver’s license. The bathtub was full and the sink was on full blast. There was water all over the floor and on the stairs.
Video footage from a neighbor reportedly showed Chu and He carrying groceries arrive at his condo around 4:45 p.m. Aug. 9. Chu left the home by himself around 8 a.m. Aug. 10, the affidavit said. Neighbors also reportedly told cops that Chu returned everyone’s trash bins back to the property after the garbage was picked up which he had never done before.
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Shortly before 4:30 a.m. Aug. 11 officers received a report of a patient at the University of Washington Medical Center in Ballard who allegedly groped a nurse. The patient turned out to be Chu who had been taken to the hospital by friends for “psychotic behavior,” the affidavit said. Once cops realized who Chu was, they took him to the Seattle Police Headquarters for an interview.
Post Miranda, Chu told a story that was “quite fragmented and difficult to follow at times,” cops wrote.
“Chu self-described a crisis condition he found himself in which caused him to retreat from his condo. He would describe things and sometimes say that this is what he remembers, but he is not sure if it is reality or not,” the affidavit said.
Chu reportedly said He, his girlfriend since January, had just arrived from Hawaii where she lives. Chu said he “thought he may have killed her,” the affidavit said.
“He said he has memory of choking her, twisting her neck, holding her down under the water in the tub. He said he thought he broke her neck,” cops wrote.
The alleged murderer said remembered taking her out of the bathtub and placing her on the floor.
“He then tried a number of things to revive her including sprinkling the Acai powder all over her, placing a ball similar to a golf ball in her mouth to fix her jaw,” the affidavit said.
He reportedly tried CPR. Asked why he assaulted her, Chu allegedly said he was unclear other than she was “acting weird” and attacked him. But he would not or could not describe the attack and denied they were arguing at the time of the murder, detectives noted.
Chu also allegedly admitted to taking two Molly pills, also known as Ecstasy or MDMA, and smoking some marijuana. Cops say he had bruises and abrasions on his knuckles, knees, legs and elbows.
Detectives also spoke with Chu’s friends who took him to the hospital. They reportedly said Chu was “moving his arms and making noises.”
An autopsy determined while she had blunt force trauma throughout her body, she had no fractures.
“There was a large, heavy white ball lodged in her throat at the base of the tongue, to where it could go no further. This smooth polished ball may have been of a quartz-like mineral material and measured approximately 4.5 CM in diameter. For reference, a standard golf ball is approximately 4.2 CM in diameter.”
Medical examiners determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation. In addition to murder, Chu also is facing a battery charge for allegedly groping the nurse. He’s at the King County Jail on a $5 million bond.
“Some of the details are hard to read,” King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesman Casey McNerthney told Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO. “But it was important for King County prosecutors to get before the court. It is exactly the details in the charging documents that made us want to ask for a $5 million bail.”
The victim was just three days shy of her 26th birthday when she was murdered. Honolulu CW affiliate KHON reported He and Chu went to high school together in Hawaii. She also worked at the Hawaii State Capitol during the 2022 legislative session, the TV station reported.
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