Los Angeles (TCD) — A man believed to have jumped from a bridge after being charged with child sexual assault in 2009 died in Los Angeles last month while living under a different name.
According to the Bremerton Police Department: Christian Basham was arrested on child sexual assault charges in 2008. He was later released from jail after posting $350,000 bail. A few months later, on March 29, 2009, a witness called police and said he saw Bassam jumping off the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Police said they found a suicide note and his car, but did not find Basham's body despite a search by plane and boat.
KABC-TV reported that although police presumed Basham was dead, he was still listed as a wanted person and a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Bremerton police said Basham died Feb. 26 in Los Angeles and was living under the alias Mark Clemens. The Los Angeles County coroner learned that Clemens was in fact Basham and contacted police. On the coroner's website, the cause of his death is listed only as 'smoke'.
According to KABC, Basham worked as a maintenance worker for an apartment building.
One of his neighbors, Tommy Cuellar, told KABC the revelation was “very shocking,” adding, “This was the guy who had the keys to our apartment. As you can imagine, it was the most outrageous thing.” . .”
“He was like any normal guy, a little rough at times, but that was his personality. There are no other clues that he was the person accused,” Cuellar said.
Bassam was 56 years old.
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