SALEM, Ore. — Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the death of a man in Salem over the weekend. The victim's body was found inside his apartment unit following a fire. Salem police described both the death and the cause of the fire as suspicious, and later confirmed the death had been ruled a homicide.
California resident David James Alexander, 45, was arrested in downtown Salem after an officer spotted him, according to a Monday news release from the Salem Police Department (SPD). He was booked in Marion County jail on charges of second-degree murder and third-degree robbery. Police also identified the victim as 38-year-old Kristopher Douglas Stokes.
In an earlier news release, SPD said police and firefighters responded at around 2:45 a.m. Saturday to a fire at an apartment building on Chemeketa Street, about a block from the state capitol building, and found a deceased man in one of the units, later identified as Stokes.
Police did not specify how large the fire became or whether it included the unit where the victim was found, stating only that both the death and the origin of the fire were considered suspicious in nature, and that the Salem Police Violent Crimes Unit would be investigating along with the Salem Fire Department.
The subsequent news release on Monday clarified that Stokes had been found dead in his own apartment unit and that the State Medical Examiner's Office had confirmed his death as a homicide, though the specific cause of death was not mentioned.
The news release also did not clarify whether Stokes' death was related to the fire, whether the fire was in his apartment or whether there is any other suspected link between the fire and the homicide, stating only that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
