Police gather footprints from slain woman’s husband

Police obtained a search warrant Thursday evening to collect footprints from the estranged husband of a slain Bothell woman.

Police obtained a search warrant Thursday evening to collect footprints from the estranged husband of a slain Bothell woman.

The man, 37, already was in custody of Bothell police, who arrested him Thursday morning after he reportedly refused to turn over his passport to detectives investigating her death.

Police had a search warrant allowing them to collect the passport, Bothell police Sgt. Cedric Collins said. The man refused and was arrested on suspicion of obstructing a police officer, a misdemeanor.

Later Thursday police obtained a search warrant that allowed them to collect the man’s footprints. They’d previously gathered his fingerprints, DNA and financial records under other search warrants.

Investigators suspect the man is somehow involved in the death of Susann Smith, 37, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death in her home. They were getting divorced and were fighting over custody of their two children.

Smith’s body was found Feb. 12 after she didn’t show up for work at a Seattle software company.