WA - Unidentified Male: "Lyle Stevik", Grays Harbor, 17 Sept 2001 - #5

[Snoopster]

Maybe "Lyle" was running from something, such as a crime? Maybe he committed something or had been involved with something illegal, either in that location (maybe he got a newspaper to see if there was anything being reported on the crime??) or even in Idaho, he had to have known that Best Western address somehow. Maybe the crisp money didn't come from "Lyle" but was given to him in exchange for something? Hush money? or for a favor? Were his entire actions accounted for while pacing the highway? Did someone see him the entire time and see him walk back to the motel? Maybe he felt guilty for doing what he did and that is why he hung himself? I just find it weird to have fresh, clean bills if you were planning on killing yourself, unless you needed them for something else that didn't pan out as expected, and he felt his only escape from whatever was to hang himself ...

This is what has been haunting me Dylgem. I somehow think there is "guilt" involved or else why hide your identity. We all want "Lyle" to be a good guy and therefore those are the actions we attribute to him. I have a feeling that he is a "good guy" who thought he was doing something noble...but then realized that life isn't so simple. The line between good and bad isn't really so obvious.

I still lean toward one of the following:
- distant relationship to people involved in 9/11
- involvement with an eco-terrorism group (such as ELF) (their leader gave up his duties that month)
- gay lifestyle that was rejected by his family (keep in mind this was almost 13 years ago, when it was less accepted than it is now)
- involvement in a crime (Israel Keyes confessed to a murder in that region during that same month; a teenage male disappeared in Idaho, not too far from the address given by "Lyle".)

I simply get the feeling that there was "guilt" involved. I believe this even though he seemed like an honourable person. Life isn't simple. Many good people get caught up in things that aren't so good.

 

[Snoopster]

I'm leaning towards it wasn't 'Lyle' that left the money nor wrote the note 'for the room'. Jmo.

Are you thinking Israel Keyes or similar?

 

[Estelle1]

If we go back to this:

In the year 2001 my mother was a housekeeping for a motel. She use to take my little brother with her at the time was 2 1\2 years old. When she got to her only check out room that morning she will never forget what she saw. A man committed suicide in that room the night before. To this day they don't know who he is.

MD seemed to have known that Lyle was checking out on Monday - a detail not mentioned by BW or the motel owner in the case files. Perhaps there was some kind of arrangement where Lyle would pay for the room after his stay? I wonder why the motel gave him 'credit', especially when BW stated that Lyle was giving him "bad vibes".

"For the room" means exactly that - Lyle settled his bill for the nights he stayed. Though $160 seems way too much for a two-night stay, especially when he only paid $44 on Friday. I get the impression the motel was pretty much empty that weekend, so would there really be such a price hike for Saturday/Sunday?

Did LE hand the money back to the hotel after their investigation? If Lyle left a surplus amount that exceeded the cost of his stay, where did that go?

And again, if Lyle overpaid as a goodwill gesture, then why not throw down the extra 8 dollars? Perhaps he forgot, but for someone who supposedly meticulously planned every detail of his death, including its aftermath (covering the cost of cleaning the room etc.), you'd think he would remember.

 

[emeraldine]

If we go back to this:



MD seemed to have known that Lyle was checking out on Monday - a detail not mentioned by BW or GB in the case files. Perhaps there was some kind of arrangement where Lyle would pay for the room after his stay? I wonder why the motel gave him 'credit', especially when BW stated that Lyle was giving him "bad vibes".

"For the room" means exactly that - Lyle settled his bill for the nights he stayed. Though $160 seems way too much for a two-night stay, especially when he only paid $44 on Friday. I get the impression the motel was pretty much empty that weekend, so would there really be such a price hike for Saturday/Sunday?

Did LE hand the money back to the hotel after their investigation? If Lyle left a surplus amount that exceeded the cost of his stay, where did that go?

And again, if Lyle overpaid as a goodwill gesture, then why not throw down the extra 8 dollars? Perhaps he forgot, but for someone so forward-thinking to cover the cost of the 'fallout' of his death (cleaning the room etc.), you'd think he would remember.

He may have been paying extra for the clean-up, but also for a service(such as cremation) that he had looked up. I think other unidentified suicide victims have done this.

"For the room" could also have meant "for the trouble this will create," if so.

The extra $8 is a mystery to me as well. I'm inclined to think he just forgot about it - maybe he was so caught-up in everything else being settled that he didn't even think about it(he could have separated it and kept it in another pocket in case he'd have to buy another meal or etc. before he felt it was time).

The hotel giving him "credit" seems extraordinary no matter how it's explained, though.

I wonder how anyone would have known he was checking out on Monday. Didn't he only say he was intending to stay "a few more days" in the beginning?

There may have been another conversation nobody knows about. If the "rudeness" attributed to him wasn't about the towels, then there's probably a bigger story.

 

[Woodland]

That's a really good point Estelle1 - what made MD think the guest in room #5 would be checking out that morning? Wonder what the routine was to let MD know which guests would be checking out and which guests would not.

 

[Estelle1]

I wonder how anyone would have known he was checking out on Monday. Didn't he only say he was intending to stay "a few more days" in the beginning?

There may have been another conversation nobody knows about. If the "rudeness" attributed to him wasn't about the towels, then there's probably a bigger story.

I don't recall there being any mention of how long Lyle was planning to stay. If I've missed something, please correct me.

Regarding the Monday "check-out" date, there seems to be a conversation (or several conversations) between Lyle and motel staff that law enforcement are not aware of.

 

[Woodland]

Are you thinking Israel Keyes or similar?

Sorry, not familiar enough with Israel Keyes to understand the question.

After reading the available case files, can't help but think the motel owners went to a great deal of trouble to distance themselves from this guest. For all I know, this guest did pay, or was allowed to stay there at no charge. I think 'LS' belongings, ID and vehicle (if he had one) were disposed of by the motel owners, and that the check-in envelope presented to LE was written up by the owners. Which leads me to the money and note were also for the benefit of LE - not the motel owners. Jmo.

 

[Snoopster]

Woodland, I was responding to your comment that perhaps it wasn't "Lyle" that left the money or the note. If it wasn't "Lyle", then who would it be?

I jumped to the potential conclusion that someone murdered LS and simply made it look like a suicide. Israel Keyes murdered a number of people and "bragged/complained" to LE that the first number of murders weren't presumed to be murders. IK lived in NW Washington at the time and told LE that his first murder was in September 2011. So one question I have is was LK his first victim? A different question I have is did LS participate in IK's first murder and then feel guilty....resulting in his suicide?

Other possible different "movtives" or relationships that I cannot dismiss are 9/11, ELF, or, "Brett", another unidentified body (found shortly before LS appeared to kill himself)in Ontario.

My head continues to spin on this case!!

 

[Woodland]

Fwiw, I discounted a link to Brett after reading the LS case files, as it seemed logical the motel owners were in a position to give a phony motel address in ID, along with too many people writing as LS imo.

Also partial to the guilt motive - LS may have been involved in something - it had to be big enough that he could no longer live with himself over it.

 

[Dylgem22]

Maybe the "missing backpack" contained something that LS was supposed to hand over to someone, which is why it was missing during the LE investigation ... The money could have come from whomever LS met to exchange things with (that is, unless the owner of the motel really watched him the whole time he was pacing and didn't see him meet anyone). But why take the money if you were feeling that guilty about it and you were maybe thinking of suicide?? And I agree about the $8 in his pocket ... Why he didn't go ahead and include that in his "for the room" ... I don't know

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I understand that reasoning, but it seems like a small motel would be financially damaged in the long-term by an on-site suicide. But, I guess you do what you can do, and that is all Lyle could manage. I was trying to follow this detail and hope it would give a clue as to his financial situation. But not enough info is available.
Your answer makes sense--Lyle was probably allotting for at least one clean-up day.

They would be more damaged by an on-site murder and murder investigation.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Woodland, I was responding to your comment that perhaps it wasn't "Lyle" that left the money or the note. If it wasn't "Lyle", then who would it be?

I jumped to the potential conclusion that someone murdered LS and simply made it look like a suicide. Israel Keyes murdered a number of people and "bragged/complained" to LE that the first number of murders weren't presumed to be murders. IK lived in NW Washington at the time and told LE that his first murder was in September 2011. So one question I have is was LK his first victim? A different question I have is did LS participate in IK's first murder and then feel guilty....resulting in his suicide?

Other possible different "movtives" or relationships that I cannot dismiss are 9/11, ELF, or, "Brett", another unidentified body (found shortly before LS appeared to kill himself)in Ontario.

My head continues to spin on this case!!

IK has never crossed my mind on this case, but I will give it some thought. It is true this would have been in his area and there are many killings of his left to discover, imo. He was one depraved individual and anything is possible. He was meticulous and liked to stage scenes.

 

[outofthedark]

He may have been paying extra for the clean-up, but also for a service(such as cremation) that he had looked up. I think other unidentified suicide victims have done this.

"For the room" could also have meant "for the trouble this will create," if so.

The extra $8 is a mystery to me as well. I'm inclined to think he just forgot about it - maybe he was so caught-up in everything else being settled that he didn't even think about it(he could have separated it and kept it in another pocket in case he'd have to buy another meal or etc. before he felt it was time).

The hotel giving him "credit" seems extraordinary no matter how it's explained, though.

I wonder how anyone would have known he was checking out on Monday. Didn't he only say he was intending to stay "a few more days" in the beginning?

There may have been another conversation nobody knows about. If the "rudeness" attributed to him wasn't about the towels, then there's probably a bigger story.

Some words were exchanged with the owners (or someone else) and he took it out on M?

Just a thought, if they [the owners] did falsify the registration slip (which is why I now doubt whether or not he actually presented that name and address) wouldn't that get them brought up for faking evidence (if there is even a SoL for that) and lying?

Another thought - if Lyle had belongings that were disposed of by a third party, I would bet that it likely went into a dumpster. In that fashion, it will likely never be recoverable (even for LE) being amongst thousands of disposed garbage bits. And potential evidence can't be proven either.

 

[Snoopster]

IK has never crossed my mind on this case, but I will give it some thought. It is true this would have been in his area and there are many killings of his left to discover, imo. He was one depraved individual and anything is possible. He was meticulous and liked to stage scenes.

Whoops! I noticed my typo just now....I meant to say that IK said that his first murder was in Washington in September 2001 (not 2011), which, of course, was the month that LS "committed suicide" in Amanda Park. IK got out of the military earlier in the summer. Does anyone think that LS had been in the military? Could the two of them have met there? If not, is there another way they could have bumped into each other? IK worked for a native band in Washington...is it possible that their paths crossed? Or, is it possible that IK stumbled across a loner (one of his early favorite victim types) and killed him, but made it look like a suicide?

I'm not saying that I believe the IK and LS knew each other, or that IK killed LS, but it is definitely on my list of possibilities (among so many other possibilities!).

 

[emeraldine]

Some words were exchanged with the owners (or someone else) and he took it out on M?

Just a thought, if they [the owners] did falsify the registration slip (which is why I now doubt whether or not he actually presented that name and address) wouldn't that get them brought up for faking evidence (if there is even a SoL for that) and lying?

Another thought - if Lyle had belongings that were disposed of by a third party, I would bet that it likely went into a dumpster. In that fashion, it will likely never be recoverable (even for LE) being amongst thousands of disposed garbage bits. And potential evidence can't be proven either.

I agree that his belongings probably went into a dumpster; either the staff emptied out a trash can containing them before LE reached the room, or Lyle himself disposed of them at the store/elsewhere.

Even if LE did recover his possessions, they might not be able to prove they were his possessions by now(unless they happen to find ID that can be identified as his). Someone may have taken them out of the dumpster, and/or his(possible) other clothes could have been given to a homeless person or thrift store...endless possibilities.

I don't think the registration slip was falsified. It would be so risky, IMO, if the handwriting was traced back to the staff while LE was investigating - with or without charges being brought against them(which I'm not personally sure of, or if there's a SoL on that), it'd certainly hurt their reputation. It's also hard to imagine a motive, or any possible gain.

An idea I just had is that maybe Lyle pointed something out to the staff that could have been(for example) a serious code violation, rather than simply complaining about noise that could be blamed on the trailer park when he was in the first room. He might have said it in a tactless way that really ticked someone off, or else his mere mention of it might have been seen as "rude."

Someone at the hotel could have even felt they might be blamed for his death(I've actually been wondering about this for a while) and cleaned the room in a panic after discovering him. That might have been why the owner was notified(instead of the reason being related to the trauma of finding him).

He could have vandalized the room(I doubt it, though), he could have had drug paraphernalia or illegal items...he could also have left another note we never saw that asked them to dispose of his belongings and "keep things confidential" as a "last wish" of sorts. Maybe the extra money was his way of saying, "Here's some extra money - please don't tell the investigators who I am."

 

[Sutton]

Many posters are questioning Lyle's manner of death and the motel owners' potential involvement. I am keeping an open mind, but what evidence supports this theory?
Just because they could have killed Lyle and covered it up, doesn't mean they did. Lots of people could have (fellow guests of the hotel, the maid, etc.). This circumstantial evidence is too weak to cause me to consider the owners (but I may adjust my opinion if new details are released.
Not trying to shoot down anyone's theory ...

 

[Sutton]

...Reading through the last couple of pages, I know there are still ethical questions about whether Lyle should be identified at all. However, I disagree - namely because law enforcement were/are willing to do so (and made steps to try and identify Lyle). Also, it's by no means certain that Lyle wanted to remain anonymous (as opposed to someone like Jane Doe in Annandale, Virginia - who did).

RSBM.
Lyle is dead. We aren't obligated to carry out his wishes. We are each obligated to do what we feel is right.
Lyle was so sad and full of pain that he strapped a leather belt around his throat and hung himself. Now I will do what I think is right: try to understand Lyle, give him a name, and his loss and his struggle.
I have another argument if anyone still with thinks he should remain ananpuz . @"

 

[mountainash]

Many posters are questioning Lyle's manner of death and the motel owners' potential involvement. I am keeping an open mind, but what evidence supports this theory?
Just because they could have killed Lyle and covered it up, doesn't mean they did. Lots of people could have (fellow guests of the hotel, the maid, etc.). This circumstantial evidence is too weak to cause me to consider the owners (but I may adjust my opinion if new details are released.
Not trying to shoot down anyone's theory ...

I initially dismissed the possibility of homicide but after considering the time frame and how closely LA resembled suspected terrorists whose faces were all over the news at that time, I no longer find the possibility of homicide all that far-fetched.

 

[digndoodle]

Whoops! I noticed my typo just now....I meant to say that IK said that his first murder was in Washington in September 2001 (not 2011), which, of course, was the month that LS "committed suicide" in Amanda Park. IK got out of the military earlier in the summer. Does anyone think that LS had been in the military? Could the two of them have met there? If not, is there another way they could have bumped into each other? IK worked for a native band in Washington...is it possible that their paths crossed? Or, is it possible that IK stumbled across a loner (one of his early favorite victim types) and killed him, but made it look like a suicide?

I'm not saying that I believe the IK and LS knew each other, or that IK killed LS, but it is definitely on my list of possibilities (among so many other possibilities!).

Thank You Snoopster for posting your post, I was not going to be the one that mentioned IK for LS, but I have been reading this case regularly and I firmly believe IK should or could have had a part in this case...If you google Neah's Bay where he resided after he got out of the army and google the Quinault Inn...it would be at most an hour and 1/2 drive there and also remember FBI got the fishing boat IK had and they searched it at great length according to his released FBI tapes...this Inn from what I read was boat accessiable and he also told FBI that one person he killed they ruled an accident???......or could it have been a suicide???....Lots of questions in LS findings for sure and all is MOO---the suicide note left reeks of what IK would love to leave or perhaps he got in a hurry and only wrote 1 single word???....and also the crisp-new like money found they thought probably came from an ATM machine---IK sure loved them ATM machines as he used S-Koenigs card and that led to him being caught in the end...Note*** in the post below he stated when released from the army---he could not wait to get out to start killing!!also NOTE*** FBI Timeline also states it was not clear if the Washington victims were from the state or if they were "transported" there from another state.....this would go back to the question of how LS came in on the bus or buses???...maybe neither in moo

5/13/2001: DUI - Tacoma, WA
Keyes got a DUI in Tacoma, WA in 2001, the year he got out of the Army. case # C17358TC Thurston County, WA - May 13, 2001; disposition 1/9/2002

7/8/2001: Last location of Army service: Fort Lewis, WA

July 2001 to October 2001: Keyes resided in Neah Bay, Washington and committed his first homicide. The identity and location of the victim are unknown.

2001 - 2007: Resided in Neah Bay, Washington

July 2001 to 2005: Keyes stated he murdered an unidentified couple in Washington. Keyes refused to tell law enforcement if the couple was married or what their relationship to one another was. It is unknown if the victims were residents of Washington, tourists, or residents he abducted from a nearby state and transported to Washington. Keyes alluded to the fact these victims were buried in a location near a valley. Keyes may have moved the victim’s car to place distance between where the vehicle was found and where the crime occurred.

 

[mountainash]

Is it possible that Lyle Stevik was detained for suspected terrorism ties and his weight loss was due to hunger strike?