Man Arrested in Cold Case Homicide

Sheriff’s detectives believe they have solved the homicide of a woman whose body was found in Woodinville in 2001.

The Prosecutor’s Office has charged Sione P. Lui, age 37, with homicide. The body of his fiancée, Elaina Boussiacos who was 27 years old when she died, was found in the trunk of her car on February 9, 2001 in the parking lot of a Woodinville fitness club. She died from blunt force trauma and strangulation.

The case was solved by in part by DNA science, contradictory statements made by Lui, and tenacious and extraordinary police work by Sheriff's detectives.

“Our detectives have worked this case for over five years, along with their other robbery, homicide and assault cases,” said Sheriff Sue Rahr. “Unfortunately we don’t have the resources to regularly work all of our cold cases. There are many more homicide cases we believe could be solved if we had more detectives,” she said.

The Sheriff's Office has about 175 “cold” unsolved homicide cases, including 47 missing person cases that are likely homicides. Some have been reviewed and have DNA potential, and others are waiting to be reviewed.

Boussiacos and Lui were living together in Woodinville at the time of her death and were engaged to be married. However Boussiacos told family and friends she was breaking off the engagement when she caught Lui having an affair.

The day she disappeared, February 3, 2001, Boussiacos had tickets to fly to California to visit her mother. Detectives believe she was killed that morning or the night before. Lui stuffed her body in the trunk of her car and drove it about a mile away. The owner of the fitness club where the car was found called the Sheriff's Office after he saw the car parked in the same place for several days. The victim’s body was found in the locked trunk.

Boussiacos’ body appeared to have been dressed by someone else. The shoes were tied in bows on the far outside of one shoe and at the far inside of the other. Lui’s DNA was found by the crime lab on the shoelaces where they would be tied. In addition, her bra was wadded up and stuffed up under her shirt.

After the car and body were found, Sheriff's detectives used a bloodhound to see if they could track backwards from the fitness club. The bloodhound immediately picked up the scent and over the next two hours led the handler and detectives about a mile and straight to the door of Boussiacos and Lui’s duplex.

Lui had a domestic violence assault conviction from a previous marriage. He was about 6 feet tall and weight about 230 lbs. He was a former football player and in a local rugby league. Boussiacos was 5’ 4” and 130 lbs. She had a young son.

Lui was arrested about Friday, April 13th about 6:00 PM near his home in Arlington without incident. He was booked into the King County Jail on charges of 2nd Degree Murder.