2nd person charged in 2021 Puyallup killing. She awaits extradition from Arizona
A woman in Arizona has been charged for her alleged role in a fatal shooting at a Puyallup restaurant parking lot in October 2021.
Katie Jean Holman, 45, was charged on Aug. 2 with two counts of second-degree murder in Pierce County Superior Court. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest. According to Puyallup Police Department, she has been arrested in Arizona and is awaiting extradition to Washington. According to online jail records, Holman was booked in Arizona by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 30.
Holman is the second person to be charged in the death of Joseph Beckley.
In February 2022, Brandon Neil Rudolph, 46, was charged with two counts of second degree murder and one count of unlawful possession with a firearm. He is in custody at Pierce County Jail with his bail set for at $5 million.
His trial is set for Oct. 19, according to court records.
What Charging Documents Stated
Rudolph and Holman are accused of murdering the 46-year-old Beckley in the early hours of Oct. 20, 2021. Beckley was found dead of a gunshot wound in the driver’s seat of a Jeep Cherokee parked near the 3200 block of East Main Avenue outside an Italian restaurant.
Beckley was at the parking lot to pick up drugs from a woman, a close friend of Holman’s, who he had given $200 the day before. The victim was waiting in the parking lot and had been texting the woman, according to court records.
The woman grew concerned by how long Beckley had been waiting and texted Holman to see if he was a threat, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. The woman then told Holman to disregard the text and that she was being paranoid.
Court records indicate that Rudolph might have shot Beckley because the woman felt like she was in danger. Prosecutors wrote that law enforcement said there was also a possibility that Holman did not see the woman’s text which said to disregard what she said.
Detectives identified Holman as the second suspect in the homicide through phone records, vehicle records, her phone’s geo-location readings and interviews with people who knew the victim and defendants.
Prosecutors wrote that the car that was believed to be used by Rudolph the night of the shooting was registered to Holman.
One witness told detectives he was a friend of Holman’s. He indicated Holman was the getaway driver while Rudolph was the shooter. The witness said the victim had contacted him for drugs, so he referred him to Holman and the other woman, who were selling at the time.
On Oct. 21, a day after the homicide, Holman sent Rudolph a message that said she was sorry and he is not alone, court records show. It allegedly read, “If you go down, I go down with you. We are in this together.” Holman also allegedly told Rudolph that they should flee to Arizona together.
