FEDERAL WAY - A nursing assistant arrested on suspicion of murdering a Federal Way grandmother and stuffing her body into her car trunk was ordered held on $1 million bail Saturday as more details of the killing were released.

The suspect, identified as 24-year-old Joseph Njonge of Kent, is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Jane Carol Britt, 75, police said. She was found strangled to death in the trunk of her car on March 19.

Njonge, a certified nursing assistant at the Garden Terrace Alzheimer Center of Excellence in Federal Way where Britt's husband was a patient, has denied any involvement in the murder.

But court papers filed Saturday say scrapings of skin cells and blood taken from underneath Britt's fingernails as part of the police investigation were an exact match for Njonge's DNA. The skin cells were lodged under her fingernails as she struggled with her attacker.

Documents filed in King County Superior Court also say Frank Britt's Costco card was found in Njonge's wallet.

Britt frequently visited her husband, Frank, at the Garden Terrace facility. She had visited him the day before her body was found in the trunk of her vehicle, a 2002 gold Mercedes Benz, which was parked outside the facility.

She was never seen alive after that, and her body was discovered at about 6 p.m. March 19 when her family became concerned about her and searched her car.

Federal Way Police Cmdr. Dan McCall said Friday that the suspect had provided care to the victim's husband, who has Parkinson's disease. "The victim did know him," McCall said.

Njonge was arrested Thursday without incident while at work at the Garden Terrace facility and appeared in court Saturday for a bail hearing. He has no criminal or police record aside from some minor traffic offenses.

Court papers filed Saturday shed more light on the circumstances surrounding Britt's murder.

According to a statement filed by police in the case, Britt was fully clothed when her body was found at 6 p.m. on March 19, but her shoes were missing and her pockets were turned inside out.

Britt's family reported that Britt did not usually carry a purse but instead would put money and identification in her pockets.

After examining Britt's body, the King County medical examiner, Dr. Richard Hàruff, concluded the cause of death was strangulation by ligature.

Haruff also noted that Britt had defensive wounds on her hands indicating a struggle with her attacker. Dr. Haruff collected scrapings of skin cells
and blood from underneath Britt's fingernails.

Later testing by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab found that the scrapings were an exact match for Njonge. Lab technicians said the probability of selecting an unrelated individual at random from the U.S. population with a matching profie was 1 in 19 quadrillion.

When Njonge was questioned about the murder, he said he had not seen Britt since 5:20 p.m. on March 18, when she departed the Garden Terrace facility after visiting with her husband. He denied having any contact with Britt or killing her, court papers said.

After Njonge's arrest on Thursday, Frank Britt's Costco card was found in his wallet.

Employees at the Garden Terrace facility were stunned to learn that one of their own co-workers was suspected in the killing.

"We're of course very glad that there's progress made in the case, but knowing that it was a staff member of ours is very difficult for us to even comprehend," said Todd Fletcher, an administrator at Garden Terrace.

Police have said very little about a possible motive for the killing. McCall said Friday that no sexual assault had taken place and that robbery does not appear to be a motive. However, Njonge is being held on suspicion of first-degree robbery, in addition to murder.

The Federal Way Police Department has worked with the King County Prosecutor’s Office, King County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab have cooperated in investigating the killing.

Britt's family reacted with sadness to the news that a caregiver at the Garden Terrace facility is suspected in her killing.

"Today we are saddened to learn a worker from the care facility she was visiting that night has been arrested in connection with her death," the family said in a prepared statement. "The Britt family would like to publicly thank the police officers, detectives, investigators, and prosecutors for their non-stop work to bring about this arrest."

Jim Dupree, a friend and neighbor of Jane Britt, said, "Reaction was absolute relief that we had a person who was walking around that would do a crime like this and thankfully the quality of the Federal Way Police Department was able to solve this. I'm ecstatic."

Investigative efforts by the Federal Way Police Department are continuing.

Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation is urged to contact the Federal Way Police Department's Detective Doug Deyo at (253) 835-6891.