Linda Malcom

 In the early morning hours of 30 April 2008, authorities in Kitsap County, Washington were contacted by residents in Port Orchard. There, along the 1100 block of Sidney Avenue, a fire had broken out, and just before 4:00 AM that Wednesday, the flames had become evident to sleeping neighbors. Firefighters quickly put out the flames and discovered the remains of the woman that lived inside…

In the early morning hours of April 30th, 2008, authorities in Kitsap County, Washington were contacted by residents in Port Orchard. There, along the 1100 block of Sidney Avenue, a fire had broken out, and just before 4:00 in the morning that Wednesday, the flames had become evident to sleeping neighbors.

The home belonged to a 47-year-old woman that was well-liked by her neighbors, who had been working for various law offices over the past decade. Firefighters would show up a short time after the 911 call was made, and would sadly discover the body of the home's resident inside. She originally appeared to have been a victim of the fire, but her death was later labeled as "suspicious" by investigators.

A lengthy examination of the crime scene would continue throughout the day, with members of the Port Orchard Police Department joined by numerous fire officials, and were assisted by the Washington State Patrol crime lab and the Seattle Fire Department; the former assisted with analyzing the crime scene and the latter brought out dogs capable of sniffing out fire accelerants.

Speaking to reporters with the Kitsap Sun, the local newspaper that covered the story early on, a neighbor that lived two doors down, Don Rio, said that he was awakened by popping sounds that he likened to "small-caliber handgun" sounds. However, despite theorizing that these were gunshots, authorities would state that these noises were likely the windows of the woman's home being blown out by the heat.

Regardless, when Rio and other neighbors looked out, they were surprised to see flames as high as six feet coming out of every window. Don Rio and another neighbor would run to the home, attempting to find or rouse the woman that lived inside, but were unable to get in more than a few feet... the flames were already burning too hot inside.

A search of the home would uncover the remains of the woman that lived inside, and she was believed to have been alone at the time of her death... or so authorities believed. As investigators would learn more about the scene, they would discover that the fire had likely been started after the woman's death, started in order to cover up any wrongdoing on behalf of the offender... who'd manage to flee without being noticed by anyone in the neighborhood.

Nearly fifteen years have passed, but those that knew the victim continue to ask: what happened to Linda Malcom?

Linda Malcom had been born in Springfield, Illinois on January 21st, 1961. She was one of nine children born to her parents, James and Donna Malcom, who had another five daughters and three sons. Linda would grow up with her family in the Midwest, but was understandably excited to move on and start a life of her own when she became an adult.

In 1984, Linda joined the U.S. Navy, and was shipped around North America as a result. She ended up spending some time in San Diego, California as well as Hawaii, before ending up in Bremerton, Washington, an area that she enjoyed living in. There, she was stationed at Naval Base Kitsap, located just across the Puget Sound from Seattle. This is an area that is very scenic and quickly accessible to the Seattle-Tacoma area by either car or ferry.

There, Linda started a life of her own, renting a small home in Port Orchard, where she would live for over 11 years (until her death in 2008). There, she lived alone and unmarried, but Linda made a lot of friends and was well-liked by most of the people she encountered in her day-to-day. When she wasn't hanging around or entertaining friends, she could be seen fishing in Washington's many scenic areas, or visiting her local haunts, where she was a notorious karaoke fiend.

Since leaving the Navy, Linda had become a legal assistant, working for numerous law offices in the local area. For a time, she worked at the Kitsap County Courthouse, and spent time with numerous defense attorneys, where her job title varied between Legal Assistant and Paralegal.

Robert Naon, a deputy prosecutor at the time, told reporters with the Kitsap Sun:

"She was always supportive and committed to her job. She was very efficient."

Ron Ness, another defense attorney in Port Orchard, described Linda as an "excellent secretary."

She had since gone on to work for another law firm in Belfair, but had recently quit that job, and accepted another position at the Social Security Administration building in Bremerton. Despite having lived in her rented home for over a decade, she had made plans to move closer to her new job in Bremerton... a move she clearly viewed as a new, fresh start for her life.

The day before her death, in April of 2008, Linda had emailed her sisters, letting them know about her new job in Bremerton, and how she was in the process of moving closer to it. Claiming to have gone through some tough times lately, she said that "the black clouds had lifted," and things were finally looking up.

Sadly, the next day - April 30th, 2008 - Linda's colorful life came to a tragic end.

Surprisingly, Linda Malcom had not succumbed to the fire in her home.

An investigation of Linda's body and the crime scene revealed that she had been stabbed to death beforehand, with fire officials noting multiple marks on her body in their initial reports. The autopsy carried out by the Kitsap County Coroner's Office would rule that Linda had died of "multiple sharp force injuries," with the fire started afterwards likely meant to cover up the stabbing.

Officials investigating the crime scene believe that the fire was started in the front of the house, where the living room and kitchen were located. Since the fire was noticed at 4:00 AM, the fire was likely started in the early morning hours, although the specific time hasn’t been publicly disclosed by authorities.

Despite investigators putting out the fire before it spread too far on and being able to recover Linda's remains before they were significantly damaged, the investigation itself would stall pretty quick. For the next couple of years, investigators claimed to be close to answers, reportedly circling around a person-of-interest that they believed "has been involved in other criminal activity." Speaking to the Kitsap Sun, Port Orchard Police Chief Al Townsend would state:

"While the person of interest has not been arrested in this case, we continue to monitor their activities and we are confident that this was not a random act of violence."

This POI was reportedly a boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend) of Linda's, who was at least a handful of years older than her, and - according to police - was "not entirely forthcoming in information he provided" to police about his and Linda's relationship.

We only know this because in September of 2009, about a year-and-a-half after Linda's death, this 57-year-old person-of-interest passed away due to natural causes, and his property in the Gig Harbor area was searched by police. It seems like this search was unable to turn up anything convincing, because police have not spoken about this lead in the years since.

In fact, this story would fade almost completely from the headlines for over a decade... until 2022, when a pair of cold case investigators began to look into it.

Not too long ago, I was contacted by a pair of investigators looking to raise awareness in the story of Linda Malcom. Each has their own unique type of investigating - one is well-versed in the criminal justice and law enforcement field, the other a well-respected journalist and author - and together, they've taken on the story of Linda Malcom.

As you'll hear, both are well-known for what they do, and they have actually had success together in reviving these cold cases, which we touch upon during our conversation.

To hear the interview, please listen to the episode embedded above

The story of Linda Malcom remains open and unsolved.

Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the Port Orchard Police Department, but you may also choose to reach out to George and Jen at their Facebook group, the "Unsolved Murder of Linda Malcom." I'll include a link to the group in the show notes, and I would encourage anyone who knows anything - who think they may know anything - to reach out to Jen and George or law enforcement.

Until such a time, the story of Linda Malcom will remain unresolved.