Kundert pleads not guilty in 1980 Kent cold case murder

Following a governor’s warrant and his extradition from Arkansas to King County, 65-year-old Kenneth Kundert, charged with first-degree murder, pleaded not guilty in the 44-year-old cold case killing of a woman in Kent.

Kundert entered his plea Nov. 7 in King County Superior Court at his arraignment on the murder charge for the February 1980 strangulation death of 30-year-old Dorothy “Dottie” Silzel.

Silzel worked as a Boeing employee full time as an instructor and part-time at a pizzeria in Kent. She owned a condominium in the 25400 block of 106th Avenue Southeast in Kent.

“Ms. Silzel left the restaurant between 10:00 [and] 10:15 p.m. after her shift ended,” an affidavit of probable cause stated. “This was the last time anyone saw or heard from Ms. Silzel.”

Friends and family became concerned after a lack of contact with Silzel and contacted police.

Kent police officers discovered Silzel dead in her apartment on Feb. 26, 1980.

An autopsy performed the following day determined her cause of death as asphyxia by cervical compression. The medical examiner additionally observed blunt impact to her head.

Dr. J.W. Eisele, the medical examiner, identified Silzel’s death as a homicide.

Utilizing microscopic examination in March of 1980, the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab located sperm on a swab collected through Silzel’s autopsy. In 2002, further examination and DNA extraction led to the creation of a DNA profile for an unknown man.

In 2022, Senior Forensic Genealogist Misty Gillis performed additional genealogy comparisons of the DNA profile, and identified 11 potential suspects — all first cousins of Kundert.

In September of 2023, the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas initiated an investigation into an assault involving Kenneth Kundert and his family. At the request of Kent investigators, Van Buren detectives attempted to obtain voluntary DNA samples from Kundert and his brother. Kundert declined.

On March 22, Kent detectives conducted surveillance on Kundert in Clinton, Arkansas. They watched as he arrived in the parking lot of a Walmart, holding a white cigarette in his hand out the window of the driver’s side. He extinguished and threw the cigarette in the trash prior to heading into the store.

Investigators collected the cigarette from the trash for testing.

The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab report indicated a match.

King County prosecutors charged Kundert on Aug. 20 with first-degree murder, stating Kundert murdered Silzel “while committing and attempting to commit the crime of rape in the first or second degree.”

According to an email from Casey McNerthney, director of communications for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, prosecutors sent a request to Gov. Jay Inslee’s office in September for a governor’s warrant for extradition of Kundert to King County after Kundert fought extradition. Prosecutors requested his extradition be expedited.

After Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the warrant sent by Inslee, Kundert arrived in King County on Oct. 30, according to McNerthney, more than two months after prosecutors charged him.

According to the Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla, the initial investigation conducted on Silzel’s murder 44 years prior enabled detectives today to identify Kundert as the suspect after advancements in DNA forensic examination technology and the expansion of genealogy databases.

“While this cold case is a once in a generation type of case, there will be many more cold cases solved because of the technological advances in forensic science, particularly DNA evidence examination,” Padilla said.

Investigators conducted DNA evidence examination and genealogy comparison multiple times in the 44-year span after Silzel’s murder.

“Our forensic evidence personnel spent numerous hours collecting evidence and documenting the crime scene in an incredibly comprehensive way,” Padilla said in an email. “It was the exceptional work done from the very beginning of this tragedy that allowed us to solve the case 44 years later.”

The investigation faced challenges ranging from limitations in DNA forensic science capabilities; a lack of eyewitnesses in the case; and the case transferring hands, with Silzel’s murder passing through multiple detectives as detectives retired, received promotions, and changed work assignments.

After passing from investigator to investigator throughout the years, Detective Sgt. Tim Ford received the case.

“Each detective that received the case started with a fresh review of all the evidence and documentation, which gave new opportunities to move forward with the case with a fresh set of investigative eyes,” Padilla said. “This is exactly what happened when Sgt. Ford took on the case.”

The department and Sgt. Ford and investigators received “overwhelming gratitude” in response to the work done on Silzel’s murder case, including from her family, the Yantzer’s, Padilla said.

“They have had to live with the unresolved murder of their family member for over four decades,” Padilla said. “It’s horrible to have someone you loved murdered, but to go through life feeling as though the murderer got away with it, had to be incredibly difficult.”

Padilla said the department met with retired personnel to share the news.

”This case connected officers and detectives from 44 years ago with the officers and detectives working today, many of whom had never met each other,” Padilla said. “… They know that the work they did in 1980, added to the work done over the years, made it possible for this incredible outcome.”

Work continues as the case moves into court proceedings.

King County Superior Court Judge Johanna Bender reserved Kundert’s bail at $3 million at his Nov. 7 arraignment. Kundert remains in custody at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle.

The court scheduled Kundert’s jury trial for Dec. 30, and his next pre-trial hearing for 1 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Trial dates are often continued as attorneys ask for more time to prepare the case.

“Our detectives will remain actively involved in this case, working with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office until it is adjudicated in court,” Padilla said. “There remains lots of work … to complete, and they remain resolved to see this case through [to] the end.”