Webb murder: Suspect confesses

Yesterday, an arrest was made in the Mike Webb murder case. The suspect has now confessed to the slaying.

Police arrested Scott White, 28 on Wednesday night. White was previously described as a "person of interest" in the case, and was apprehended without incident.

Investigators had known about White for several weeks but learned of his location only on Wednesday. Assistant Chief Nick Metz said that during questioning at police headquarters, White admitted to killing Webb and hiding his body in the house he rented. White has not been charged as of yet, but a bail hearing was set for Thursday afternoon.

The decomposed body of the former KIRO radio talk host was found under boxes and a tarp in a 3-foot crawl space at his home on June 28. Day laborers happened upon the body while cleaning the house. Webb had been reported as missing since April 13.

According to the Seattle police missing persons report, Webb had been hanging out with a "shady character," and text messages were received from Webb’s phone for days after his disappearance.

White and Webb had apparently met in November and had lived together for a while. Metz would not discuss a possible motive, whether a weapon was found or other details. Nothing was disclosed in regard to White's criminal history, other details about his background or if he acted alone or with others.

Read more at KIRO-TV.

Webb's body identified, talk host was murdered

Updating yesterday's tragic story, local authorities have identified a badly decomposed body found at Mike Webb's house to be that of the former Seattle liberal talk radio host himself.

Webb's sister, Marian Bagni said Seattle police informed her of the identification earlier in the day, and the The King County medical examiner's office says the death was a homicide.

The cause of death has been listed as "multiple sharp force injuries." The medical examiner stated that Webb died of blunt trauma and multiple stab wounds.

The body was found Thursday by a day laborer, hired by Webb's landlord, cleaning out Webb's Queen Anne rental home. After he moved boxes from a crawlspace, the worker saw the outline of a body under a tarp in the 3-foot crawlspace, and immediately called police.

Webb was last seen on April 13th and had been reported missing.

The webmaster of Webb's site has stated that he will keep it up until further notice, as he feels that is what he'd want. And friend and fellow radio personality John McMullen did an online tribute Friday for Webb, a two hour show that will repeat around the clock until Saturday afternoon and will be available at other times. You can find that at GAYBC Radio.

Further reading:

blatherWatch - A blog run by Webb antagonist Michael Hood, which has been covering the whole Webb ordeal very heavily.

Former talk-show host Webb led a life full of passion, problems (Seattle Times)

Mike Webb's official website

Body found at home of Mike Webb

Seattle police are investigating "badly decomposed" human remains found Thursday at the Queen Anne home of former radio talk show host Mike Webb.

Webb, 52, was last seen April 13, according to a missing-person report filed in May. His 10-year stint as a late-night talk show host came to an end in December 2005 when he was fired by KIRO-AM/710 after being charged with insurance fraud.

Seattle police crime scene investigators and homicide detectives were combing the house Webb had rented for 14 years in the 2500 block of Third Avenue West.

Assistant Chief Nick Metz, head of the department's investigations division, said a property manager discovered the body Thursday afternoon.

Calling the remains "badly decomposed," Metz said investigators had yet to determine the gender, age or the cause of death.

"We are treating this death as suspicious," Metz said.

Investigators were trying to determine whether the body had been moved to the house, Metz said. Several people -- including missing-person investigators and Webb's family -- had been to the house in the months since the liberal radio host vanished.

Officers last examined the home within the past two weeks, police spokesman Jeff Kappel said. It was unclear whether officers entered the home at that time.

Metz declined to divulge details about where the body was found. But he did say that, when those details are publicized, the reasons why the body was not located earlier will be clear.

More:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Times
KOMO-TV
KIRO-TV
KING-TV
blatherWatch

developing...

Mike Webb is missing

A bit of old news to some, but nonetheless still ongoing.

Seattle liberal talk show host Mike Webb, formerly of KIRO and most recently doing a webcast version of his show, has been missing for almost two months. April 13 is the last time he had done a webcast, posted a blog entry and had spoken to anyone in his family. According to blatherWatch, a Seattle media blog that often writes about Webb, nobody seems to know his whereabouts. blatherWatch and Webb's family report that his house had been ransacked, but his car and other personal effects were left behind. The car, parked on the street, has since been impounded by police.

The last anyone had heard from him was allegedly April 30, when the local Department of Corrections had received a check-in call from him. Webb was convicted in February for making a fraudulent insurance claim after an automobile accident the previous June, when his Lexus was struck by an uninsured driver. Webb was fired from KIRO in December 2005 following his indictment on the charges.

Webb, 51, has been suffering a decline in mental and physical health for the past couple of years, according to sources. He even suffered a breakdown in court last September (resulting in a mistrial), had filed for bankruptcy protection and had reportedly even contemplated suicide.

A San Francisco native, Webb got his start in radio in the late 1960s, as a teenager, at KMPX, the groundbreaking progressive rock FM station programmed by legendary disc jockey Tom Donahue. He moved on to other San Francisco stations, doing mostly on-the-street reporting and interviews, with his most memorable story being the murders of San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone by deranged ex-City Supervisor Dan White. Webb, working for KGO radio at the time, also covered the riots that ensued when White received a mere seven year sentence for the double murder, by reason of insanity (junk food made him crazy). Later, Webb worked as an on-air personality at other San Francisco stations before moving to Seattle in the early 1980s. He entered talk radio at KIRO in 1996. Webb is also known for his activism work, particularly against hate crime. Webb runs a voice-over business as well.

Anyone having information about Webb, or those who have seen him are encouraged to contact Seattle Police Detective Tina Drain at (206) 684-5582. Seattle police are treating this as a missing persons case.

You can read more about Webb at blatherWatch.