Warrants: Man beaten, not shot

A Bothell-area man who was slain in December died from being pummeled with a blunt object, according to search warrants released last week.

He was so badly beaten that investigators initially thought he had been shot twice in the head.

Sixty-year-old Douglas Erlandson was found badly injured in a living-room chair Dec. 16 at his home in the 4300 block of 212th Street Southeast, according to the court documents. He was taken to a hospital but died a couple of days later.

Erlandson's son, Shea Erlandson, told police he found his injured father shortly after 8 a.m. Erlandson told police he'd had dinner with his father about 8 p.m. the previous night and then went to his room in another part of the house to chat online with a friend.

He called police from a cellphone on his way to a nearby market the morning he discovered his father because he was afraid to remain in the house, according to the documents.

Shea Erlandson initially told police that he and his mother, Noreen Erlandson, had arguments with Douglas Erlandson in the week before his death, but he later denied that he or his mother had argued with his father, according to the documents.

Noreen Erlandson, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 1992 for beating to death her 2-year-old daughter, was not considered a suspect by Everett police after she passed a polygraph test.

Lt. Ted Olafson said the investigation remains active.

"Our detectives are following up on various leads," Olafson said.

Detectives took three computers from the home, two of which were in Shea Erlandson's room.

Brian Alexander: 425-745-7845 or balexander@seattletimes.com