The soldier accused of killing a 19-year-old Kirkland woman in Juanita on Nov. 30 has a record of going Absent Without Leave, assaulting a noncommissioned officer and a history of drug use.
He is being held at the base and faces court-martial charges, according to military charging documents obtained by the Reporter.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Pvt. Dakota Wolf was charged in December with the first-degree murder of Kirkland resident Scarlett Paxton. Wolf is accused of stabbing Paxton to death with a large chef’s knife at her apartment behind the Juanita Albertsons.
Wolf, who was in the second year of a six-year term with the Army, is facing five separate charges from the military in the court martial.
Wolf had a history of disobeying orders, but the biggest issue is an assault charge that he faces. Wolf struck a noncommissioned officer of the United States Army in the right eye with an open hand on Nov. 17, 2011, according to charging documents. The incident took place just 13 days before the murder.
Wolf then went AWOL from Nov. 18-30. During his absence from the military, he stayed in Kirkland at a friend’s house after a falling out with his mother on Nov. 28, according to Kirkland police records.
Wolf’s issues in the military date back to April 29, 2010, when he was caught smoking the drug “spice.” The military has also brought charges for that incident, along with eight separate instances of going AWOL, starting on June 27, 2011.
One of those charges includes willfully disobeying an order on Oct. 11, 2011 from a commanding officer to “not travel outside the limits of JBLM,” according to the documents. Charges for that incident were originally brought against Wolf on June 20 and have been combined with the new charges brought on Jan. 5.
Kirkland detectives identified Wolf as a person of interest in the investigation but knew he was being held by JBLM on pending charges.
Paxton went for a walk with her boyfriend around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 30 near their Hidden Firs Apartment complex in the 12800 block of 132nd Ave. N.E. Paxton left shortly after she became upset about her perceived intentions behind her boyfriend’s asking her to accompany him on a walk, according to police records. She told him she was going back to the couple’s apartment to call a friend.
When her boyfriend returned home, he called 911 at 2:50 a.m. after he found his girlfriend slumped over in front of their second-floor apartment unit.
Paxton died soon after and her death was ruled a homicide by a sharp forced injury to her neck. Further examination of her injuries revealed lacerations to her chin, neck, thumb, hand and a cut above her knee, all consistent with defensive knife wounds, according to police records.
DNA profiles obtained from samples taken behind Albertson’s and a trail of blood from the alley behind the store to the initial crime scene matched Paxton’s DNA, according to police documents.
A partial palm and fingerprint were noted along the north-side wall of the building where Juanita Albertson’s and Rite Aid are located. The Crime Laboratory identified both prints as belonging to Wolf.
Police believe Wolf, who was allegedly armed with a large chef’s knife, initially attacked Paxton in one location and then chased her to her apartment complex where he completed the attack, according to the charging documents.
If convicted of the murder, Wolf faces 22-28 years in prison.
