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George Waterfield Russell Jr.

Also known as: The Charmer

Active

1990–1990

Region

Bellevue, Washington, USA

Status

Convicted

Victims

3

George Russell, a petty thief and nightclub regular who grew up on Mercer Island, killed three women on Seattle's Eastside in the summer of 1990. Forensic evidence and a ring taken from one victim, traced to a pawnshop in Key West, Florida, tied him to the killings. A King County jury convicted him in October 1991 in the county's first serial-murder trial, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Mary Ann Pohlreich, 27 · June 1990

  A Redmond woman who had gone out dancing with friends in Bellevue.

• Carol Beethe, · August 9, 1990

  A Bellevue bartender and mother of two daughters.

• Andrea "Randi" Levine, 24 · August 31, 1990

  She had been planning a trip to the San Juan Islands with her boyfriend.

Timeline of locations

1. 1990
   Russell's residence (Bellevue) (Killer's residence, approximate area)

   The Seattle Times described Russell as a Bellevue resident when he was charged. Police first arrested him on outstanding misdemeanor warrants in September 1990, a few days after Levine's death.

2. June 22, 1990
   Papagayo's nightclub and Black Angus parking lot (Overlake area) (Recovery site, approximate area)

   Mary Ann Pohlreich was last seen at Papagayo's, a Bellevue nightclub in the Overlake area that Russell often visited. Her body was found early the next morning behind a Black Angus restaurant about a mile away, a restaurant that had banned Russell a few months earlier.

3. August 1990
   Mercer Island (Other, approximate area)

   Russell grew up on Mercer Island. About three weeks after Carol Beethe's death, a friend watched him retrieve a bag of silver dollars and change from a wooded area on the island; coins in similar bags had gone missing from her home.

4. August 9, 1990
   Beethe home, east Bellevue (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Carol Beethe was killed in her east Bellevue home while her two daughters slept nearby. Rings and coins missing from the home later figured in the evidence against Russell.

5. August 31, 1990
   Levine apartment, Kingsgate (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Andrea Levine was killed in the basement apartment she rented in Kingsgate, near Kirkland.

6. January 9, 1991
   King County Jail (Other)

   Russell was already in the King County Jail on unrelated charges when he was charged with Mary Ann Pohlreich's murder in January 1991. Charges in the deaths of Andrea Levine and Carol Beethe followed in March.

7. February 1991
   Pawnshop in Key West, Florida (Other, approximate area)

   Andrea Levine's amethyst ring, which Russell had given to a woman as a gift, was sold by her friend at a Key West pawnshop. Police traced it there, and it became key evidence in her death.

8. October 13, 1994
   Washington Supreme Court (Temple of Justice) (Court / trial)

   After a King County jury convicted Russell in October 1991 and he was sentenced to life without parole, the Washington Supreme Court heard his appeal and upheld all three convictions in 1994.

Sources

• George Russell (serial killer) (Wikipedia)
• State v. Russell, 125 Wn.2d 24 (Washington Supreme Court, 1994)
• Murder Victim's Ring Leads To Suspect (Seattle Times, 1991)
• Second Murder Charge Filed In Bellevue Slaying (Seattle Times, 1991)
• Murder Suspect Familiar With Jail (Seattle Times, 1991)
• Strategies Are Revealed In Serial-Murder Trial (Seattle Times, 1991)
• Russell Sentenced To Life In Prison (Seattle Times, 1991)
• One Last Look Back At '91 (Seattle Times, 1991)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.