Inset: Clay Fosse (New Mexico Department of Corrections). Background: The apartment complex in Seattle, Washington, where Fosse allegedly killed a man in 2015 (Google Maps).
A man is facing charges a decade after he allegedly murdered a victim in Washington state by mechanical asphyxia and cleaned the body with oven cleaner.
Clay Fosse, now 37, is facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of Thomas Hess in Seattle. A probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime said Hess' roommates found him dead around 2 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2015, in his apartment in the 2300 block of 1st Avenue.
Hess was covered by blankets and had a perforated leather sheet or "mask" over his face, cops wrote. A shoelace bound his wrists behind his back, the affidavit stated. Detectives noted they could smell oven cleaner on his body. They found a can of Easy-Off oven cleaner next to his feet.
The autopsy "revealed evidence of blunt force injuries to the face, neck, and torso which included several broken bones." A medical examiner listed the cause of death as "probable mechanical asphyxia," which is death caused by obstruction of breathing pathways.
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Residents of the apartment complex used a key card to enter the building. Records showed the last time Hess entered the apartment was shortly after 3 p.m. Feb. 12, 2015. Surveillance camera footage showed he went inside with an unknown male, the affidavit stated. That same male was seen leaving the building some seven hours later.
Investigators in the months after the crime sent several pieces of evidence to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab including nail clippings. More than a year later, a match came back to Fosse, who at that time was in the Bernalillo County Jail in New Mexico on unrelated charges, according to cops. Detectives in August 2016 submitted Fosse's DNA to the crime lab which confirmed a match.
In 2024, more items were submitted for DNA analysis including neck swabs. In May, it was confirmed that the swabs originated from Hess and Fosse, cops said.
Records show Fosse is currently serving a prison sentence in New Mexico Department of Corrections for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Cops say Fosse has an extensive criminal history, which includes convictions for kidnapping and false imprisonment. He also was arrested in Washington state in the weeks after the alleged murder for assault and criminal trespass.
The affidavit did not include a motive for the murder or how the suspect and victim came to know each other.
