A 38-year-old Oak Harbor woman who told police she stabbed her fiancé after he assaulted her during the Nov. 13 power outage on Whidbey Island is officially accused of murder, according to court documents.
Ryan A. Crumal, 37, died of approximately six stab wounds after being airlifted to Providence Medical Center in Everett, the affidavit of probable cause states.
Prosecutors charged Ilene M. Erwin in Island County Superior Court Wednesday with murder in the second degree, a domestic violence crime. The filing includes a deadly weapon enhancement.
If convicted of the charge, Erwin could face a sentence of 10 years and a month to 18 years and four months in prison under the state’s standard sentencing range. The deadly weapon enhancement would add a mandatory two years to the sentence.
In court Monday, the prosecutor said Erwin had previously been convicted in California of stabbing a boyfriend. The judge set her bail at $500,000.
Erwin called 911 just before 8 p.m. and reported that she was beaten by Crumal and “grabbed a knife and stabbed him,” the police report states. Officers arrived at the home in a Crosby Avenue mobile home park to find Crumal lying next to a pool of blood on the floor in the dark interior.
Erwin told police that she and Crumal had been drinking vodka when they started arguing. She said he suddenly started punching her while she was sitting on a couch, the report states. She said she got away, went into the kitchen to retrieve a knife, returned to the living room and stabbed him, the report states.
“Erwin got the knife because he hurt her, she was scared and she did not want him to hurt her again,” the report states.
Erwin appeared in court Monday on video from the jail. She was wearing a mask but had a large contusion across her forehead. The police report describes other injuries to her face.
Erwin was crying when police arrived and repeatedly said she didn’t mean to hurt Crumal. She said their relationship had not previously been abusive but that she had been in abusive relationships in the past.
