Second suspect in Poulsbo murder spotted, pursued in Gig Harbor area

This story is used by permission from Gig Harbor Now, a nonprofit news organization covering the community of Gig Harbor. Read more at www.gigharbornow.org.

Gig Harbor Police officers, along with deputies from the Pierce and Kitsap sheriff’s offices, searched along Burnham Drive on Halloween night for a suspect in a homicide that occurred near Poulsbo.

They didn’t find the suspect, and aren’t certain he was even there. An off-duty Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office detective spotted a vehicle associated with the subject near the Sun Outdoors Campground on the afternoon of Oct. 31, precipitating the manhunt.

Law enforcement officers were looking for Caleb Sloan, a suspect in the killing of Brandon L. Egeler near Poulsbo on Oct. 3. Another suspect in the homicide, Aksel Strom, was arrested in Pacific County on Oct. 27.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kevin McCarty said the off-duty detective saw a yellow car with black racing stripes on the 9500 block of Burnham Drive while on his way home from work Tuesday night.

Earlier Tuesday, Sloan was seen leaving the scene of a collision in a car matching that description. He is the subject of felony arrest warrants for second-degree murder and first-degree burglary.

The collision occurred near the intersection of Bethel and Cedar roads in South Kitsap County.

Kitsap deputies saw a man, whom they believe was Sloan, fleeing that collision in the yellow car with black racing stripes. The detective spotted that car near Sun Outdoors Campground a few hours later.

Gig Harbor officers helped with the Halloween night search and remained on scene for several hours afterward, according to Gig Harbor Police Department.

Strom, of Port Orchard, and Sloan, of Bremerton, are suspects in the shooting death of Egeler, 38, at a home on Lincoln Road in Poulsbo.

Sloan remains at large, McCarty said.

“Kitsap County Sheriff’s Detectives are aware that Caleb Sloan is getting help from people in Kitsap/Pierce County area to evade law enforcement, including transportation and money,” McCarty wrote in response to email questions from Gig Harbor Now. “Those people known to have assisted Sloan, and anyone else who is found to have helped him, will be under investigation for their actions and may face criminal charges.”