Police link stabbing suspect to fatal fire

Isaiah M.K. Kalebu was arrested at Magnuson Park on Friday evening after a Metro bus driver recognized him and called 911. Officers located the man and his dog at the park and arrested him without incident, Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said.

Kalebu is suspected of stabbing Teresa Butz to death and wounding her partner at their home on Sunday. Detectives said Kalebu is the person of interest previously identified in surveillance footage released by police.

Investigators said they'd questioned 23-year-old Kalebu about the fatal University Place house fire that killed former NFL quarterback John "J.J." Jones and a woman named Rachel Kalebu. Jones had been renting the basement of the home in the 5500 block of 64th Avenue West.

According to the suspect's mother, Denise Kalebu, Isaiah Kalebu is Rachel Kalebu's nephew who used to live at the home as well. Isaiah Kalebu was detained for questioning about the blaze when he arrived at the home a few hours after the fire, but later released.

Investigators said deputies were called to the home just a week prior to the fire due to domestic disturbance. Det. Ed Troyer said deputies used a beanbag gun and a Taser to arrest the nephew after his pit bull threatened people in the neighborhood.

Isaiah Kalebu was booked into jail after the incident but was released when Rachel Kalebu bailed him out. But she obtained a restraining order against her nephew the next day, saying he had threatened her.

The nephew told officers that he had been living in the woods near the home since the restraining order was issued, and said he had been in the woods during the fire.

'He needs help but he doesn't know he needs help'

Denise Kalebu said she can't think of any reason her son would've gone after Teresa Butz and her partner with a knife.

"I don't know her, and I don't even know if he knew her," said the tearful mother. "I don't know what's going on except that I know my son and I know he's mentally ill."

But court documents show Denise Kalebu had called police on her own son in March of 2008 when he threatened to killer her on several occasions - once with a knife - and for smashing up the family van.

According to the statement of probable cause, Denise Kalebu said trouble began when she confronted her son about not taking his prescription medication for his mental issues. The woman said her son had been diagnosed as being bipolar and manic depressive.

The illness has turned her beloved son into a stranger, Denise Kalebu said.

"All his life he's been a very good person, a very good boy. Sweet to me, always treated me kind," she said. "He just recently, he got sick."

The mother can no longer recognize the man her son has become, but not the illness that overtook him. Denise Kalebu said she had seen similar symptoms in her mother, who had struggled with schizophrenia.

"I started seeing signs of that in Isaiah in about a year and a half ago, two years ago," she said. "It's a sickness that runs in my family, and I recognized the signs for it. But I couldn't get him any help for it."

The biggest roadblock was Isaiah Kalebu's age. Because he was already an adult when he fell ill, there was only so much the mother could do.

"I tried to get him help. But because he's an adult, I was told I can't get any information or do anything. He has to do it himself," she said.

"He is not taking his medication. We can't force him to take his medication. And there's not much to say," added his sister, Deborah Allen, who told detectives she'd seen her brother push and hit their mother.

Denise Kalebu could not even obtain her son's medical records due to privacy issues. She said she could do little but watch as her son went into hospital after hospital, including Western State Hospital, just to be released, untreated.

"They let him out and we kept telling'em, 'He's sick,'" she said. "He needs help but he doesn't know he needs help. And I couldn't do anything because he's an adult."

The last time Denise Kalebu spoke with her son was on the day of the fatal fire.

"He called and I asked him, 'Did you do that?' And he said, 'No, mom, I didn't do that. I wasn't even there,'" she said.

The mother's not entirely sure how her son has been since then, but she's in disbelief over the accusations.

"I just want to say I'm really sorry to the family of the person that got killed, because I wouldn't want anything to happen to anyone."

Isaiah Kalebu was charged with felony harassment for the March 2008 incident, and was set to go to trial in King County in August.

He has been booked into King County Jail for investigation of murder, and his dog has been placed under the care of Seattle Animal Control.