Man charged in woman’s death in Olympic National Forest

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Renton man charged with killing a young California woman in the Olympic National Forest in February made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, authorities said.

The woman — who the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office identified as Dioneth Lopez — traveled to the Seattle area to visit Alejandro J. Aguilera Rojas, The Seattle Times reported.

The two were in a relationship that was hidden from Aguilera Rojas’ wife and family, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Brian Moran’s office.

They went to Sequim Feb. 10 and four days later authorities found Lopez’s body off a logging road in the Olympic National Forest.

There were signs she had been beaten and stabbed, and a broken tequila bottle and a knife were among items found nearby, the statement said.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Lopez and ruled her manner of death a homicide, while the cause of death was blunt and sharp force injuries.

Aguilera Rojas told authorities the two went into the forest where she threatened to kill his wife and child and tried to stab him with a knife, according to an FBI complaint. Aguilera Rojas said he grabbed a tequila bottle and hit her on the head and that when he drove away, he thought Lopez was still breathing, the complaint says.

Because the killing occurred on federal land in the Olympic National Forest, the case is being prosecuted in federal court, the statement said. He is in federal custody.