Questions arise in slaying of woman in Redmond

Monday, July 29, 2002

REDMOND -- Police are certain of this: Victoria Mardis, 49, accidentally lost some important paperwork on Willows Road late Friday night, and she drove back to pick it up.

But yesterday authorities still had no idea why, after the Seattle home health-care nurse stopped to collect the patient records, someone shot her in the face with a handgun at close range, killing her.

Mardis' son Jordan, 23, of Boise, Idaho, said it's hard to believe that someone who spent her life helping people would meet such a fate.

"She helped so many people," he said in an interview last night. "It's difficult to comprehend that she can't help anybody else."

Redmond homicide detectives also are baffled.

"Is it totally random? Was it a thrill kill, or is it a possible road rage?" said Redmond police Lt. Rick Springs. "All these are unknowns."

Investigators working the case spent the weekend canvassing apartment units near the 8100 block of Willows Road, trying to find someone who saw what happened.

No strong witnesses have been found, leaving detectives with no suspect description, Springs said.

Robbery has been ruled out. The victim's purse was recovered in her car.

	The slain woman's family created a memorial of candles and messages at the rockery where her body was found.

Mardis' family set up a row of candles during the weekend and leaned signs against a rockery where she was found dead. One poster said "Your Kids Love U."

Redmond police were called to the shooting scene shortly after 11 Friday night.

A passing driver saw some of the woman's lost papers strewn on the road and then spotted the victim's body, Springs said. She apparently had left the papers on top of her car after leaving her company's office, a few blocks away.

She worked for Apria Healthcare, Jordan Mardis said. "I'm sure when she realized she'd left the papers up there and that they'd blown away, she was concerned about patient confidentiality," he said. "That's why she went back."

Authorities believe Mardis may have been lying on the sidewalk between five and 20 minutes before the motorist stopped. Her white, 2002 Subaru Impreza was found in an apartment complex parking lot nearby.

Apartment tenants told police they heard a single popping noise. Nobody suspected that a shooting had taken place, so nobody checked it out, Springs said.

At least one witness reported hearing muffled voices near the road, he said.

Springs said Mardis made a cell phone call to her husband after she left her office to tell him she had lost her papers and was turning around.

She is survived by her husband Lonnie, 50, and three sons: Loren, 21, of Missoula; Sam, 20, who lives with his parents in Seattle; and Jordan.

Jordan Mardis said the family is doing as well as can be expected.

"Everybody has been very supportive," he said, adding that the shock hasn't worn off. "The important thing is finding out what happened."

Police are asking anyone who may have seen something unusual involving the woman's white Subaru to call them at 425-556-2581.