A Washington state woman is facing charges of murder and arson after authorities say she killed her boyfriend with an ax and then set their apartment on fire, claiming she believed he was a demon. On Sept. 16, firefighters in Issaquah responded to a blaze at an apartment complex just before 8 a.m. Inside, they discovered the body of 43-year-old Richard Kenneth Schnepf. Outside, seated quietly at a nearby playground, was Kimberly Feyhl, 49. Court records say she admitted to both the killing and the fire.

God Told Her What To Do

She allegedly told investigators, “I killed my roommate.” According to the King County Medical Examiner, Schnepf died from multiple sharp-force injuries. The case has rattled a community accustomed to quieter news. Prosecutors say Feyhl and Schnepf had lived together for years, sometimes as roommates, sometimes as romantic partners. But behind the closed doors of their apartment, the relationship had frayed. In a probable cause affidavit, police wrote that Feyhl described hearing voices and said she believed “God told her” Schnepf was a demon who intended to kill her.

Complete and Total Overkill

The details laid out in court are grim. Investigators say that on the night of Sept. 15, Feyhl waited in her room, convinced Schnepf would attack her. When he did not, she retrieved an ax, entered his room, and found him asleep. She struck him in the head “multiple times,” then, believing he might still be alive, doused him in rubbing alcohol and set him alight with a lighter. Fire crews later found the ax—still stained with blood and hair—tucked beneath the mattress, and the half-empty alcohol bottle near his body.

She Plead Not Guilty

The fire was contained, but investigators noted blood spatter across the walls where Schnepf was found. His death, paired with the fire that threatened neighbors in the complex, led prosecutors to charge Feyhl with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon enhancement and first-degree arson. In her first court appearance Tuesday, Feyhl pleaded not guilty. She is being held at King County Jail on $3 million bail. Her next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 9.

Is Feyhl Insane?

Feyhl’s account of hearing voices raises questions about her state of mind and whether she’ll pursue an insanity defense. But for Schnepf’s family, the clinical explanations can only go so far. Their son and brother is gone, killed in an act both brutal and surreal. Neighbors at the Issaquah complex told local reporters the fire alarm jolted them awake, and the news that followed left them shaken. For them, the idea that a killing of this nature happened just a few doors away is hard to square.