‘He’s not crazy. He’s evil.’ Tri-Citian not surprised ex-Airbnb renter accused of murder

A former Marine says the suspect in this week’s deadly Fred Meyer shooting terrorized him and his housemates for nearly 1 1/2 years before he could be forcibly evicted.

“Aaron (Kelly) truly treated my house like it was his house, and I was the intruder in my own home,” Bryant Scott told the Tri-City Herald.

“I’ve heard a lot of people call him crazy. He’s not crazy. He’s evil. He’s maniacal, always plotting and planning. He knows every situation he puts himself in. ... He plans everything.”

A lot is not known about Aaron Christopher Kelly but Scott said it didn’t take long for him to realize that his Airbnb tenant was troubled. Kelly’s erratic, secretive and paranoid behavior left Scott and his other housemates on edge, even fearful.

Kelly was a former Texas school teacher who apparently had moved to the Tri-Cities in recent years and was doing virtual tutoring work by day. He often hung out at area coffee shops, like Starbucks.

But many nights he would leave without explanation for up to six hours at a time, returning at 2 or 3 a.m., even during the COVID pandemic when most businesses were closed down, Scott recounted.

Kelly wore paramilitary clothing, a ski mask and a backpack, with the outline of a pistol clearly visible, even while inside the house.

Scott couldn’t get Kelly to move out. And Scott soon learned he couldn’t force Kelly out because of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency order to protect renters from evictions during the pandemic.

Over time, Scott hired a private investigator to look into Kelly’s past. He installed security cameras throughout the house because items had gone missing, and he wanted to know what Kelly was doing as he wandered the house when alone. Kelly already was banned from some fitness centers in town for creepy behavior.

Eventually Scott went to the courts, filing a 45-page petition in October 2020 for a protection order. When the judge denied the temporary order, Scott turned to the last resort.

He sold his Texada Lane house in west Pasco. But even then, Kelly wouldn’t leave.

Court order to evict

Scott told the Tri-City Herald that since Kelly refused to go — even though the owner himself had already moved out — he again had to go to the courts for a legal eviction order.

This time granted, the order gave Franklin County sheriff’s deputies permission to enter Scott’s house and remove Kelly, who had barricaded himself in his bedroom with a gun and a knife.

Eventually Kelly gave up and deputies handcuffed and walked him outside.

Then, after removing the rest of his personal belongings, deputies set Kelly free and told him never to come back or he’d face arrest.

He didn’t go far.

He lived in his car in a nearby public parking lot for two weeks, seemingly watching the comings and goings at his old rental house, before police told him to move along, said Scott.

That was in March 2021. In the 11 months since, Scott has had little contact with his former tenant, except for a brief sighting at a Kennewick coffee shop.

But after Monday’s shooting in Richland that left an Instacart worker dead and a store employee critically wounded, Tri-Cities police started circulating photographs online of the alleged shooter, asking for the public’s help in identifying the man.

Scott called dispatchers, saying he was “pretty sure” — like 75-80% certain — it was Kelly.

Then he pulled up his own security footage of Kelly from the old house and put it side-by-side with the Fred Meyer store pictures, and it was “so blatantly apparent.” He recognized the black backpack that Kelly always wore.

“Frankly, I wasn’t surprised that (Kelly) committed murder. ... My only shock was when I found out the victim was a man,” said Scott, who lost a family member in the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. “I felt really bad. I actually was almost in tears because I thought I could do something, I could have done more.

“We knew this was going to happen.”

Kelly, 39, now sits in the Benton County jail on $1 million bail for charges of premeditated first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

He is accused of firing several fatal shots at Justin Krumbah, even after the Instacart shopper fell to the ground, and shooting Fred Meyer employee Mark A. Hill before leaving the Wellsian Way store on Feb. 7. Hill remains hospitalized in Richland

Airbnb rental

Scott was a Marine corporal in 2016 when, at 27, he nearly died during a 13-mile navigation exercise in 109-degree temperatures in Southern California.

Suffering from heat stroke, his heart stopped several times and his liver had to be removed while he was in a 14-day coma.

He was still recovering in 2019 when he decided to bring in some extra cash by opening up his new four-bedroom home to renters.

The first tenant, Kelly, came through Airbnb. He agreed to pay $600 a month. He always paid in cash.

The other two rooms were rented by a medical professional from Spokane, who only used the house to sleep during work nights, and an engaged couple.

Scott said it seemed like Kelly “came in off the highway,” and soon directed his mail to be delivered to that home address even though technically he was an Airbnb guest.

He said any normal person would have told Kelly that was not OK, but in hindsight he believes Kelly saw him as a target and took advantage of Scott because of the vulnerability of his injuries at the time. Plus, Scott admits, he is a “really laid back guy.”

Scott does not think Kelly was living in the Tri-Cities before moving into his west Pasco home, but says it is hard to know the real truth about him.

Series of lies

“He was just a blatant liar, literally,” Scott said. “And I believed him because usually people don’t lie that much.”

Kelly said he was 28, nearly a decade below his correct age. He claimed to have two master’s degrees, when his highest degree was a bachelor’s in English. And Kelly said he was from Portland, though Scott later learned he really was from Texas.

Scott eventually hired the private investigator to do a background check on Kelly, based on his behavior around the house and the forwarded mail that came from all over the country.

Scott told the Herald that his investigator found Kelly had been a grade-school teacher at two separate schools, but questions if something must have happened because Kelly left and never went back to the profession.

Kelly worked with Varsity Tutors, helping teach students online, though Scott is certain he was doing something else to bring in money and supplement his rent. Kelly gave him cash every month — when he did pay.

Scott said he tried to help Kelly by telling him about open teaching positions, but he never pursued them.

Court records show Kelly was charged with felony second-degree burglary in March 2020 for breaking into Three Rivers RV Storage in Pasco.

In September of that year, he entered a stipulated order of continuance in Franklin County District Court, which required him to pay a $300 monitoring fee, stay away from the business and not commit any new crimes for one year.

The case was dismissed in September 2021 since Kelly successfully completed all of the conditions.

Documents also show that Kelly’s membership was revoked and he was trespassed from a fitness center’s Tri-Cities locations over allegations he made other members uncomfortable by following them around and videotaping them.

Scott described his former tenant as having a superiority complex, saying often when in trouble Kelly won’t say a word and will just stare at you. He points to Kelly’s first appearance in Benton County Superior Court on Tuesday, saying he interpreted Kelly’s delays in answering the judge as his way of trying to regain control and assert power in the courtroom.

Fearful roommates

The relationship soon soured between Kelly and all the housemates.

Kelly allegedly stole cash and other belongings from their bedrooms, removed the SD cards from security cameras, used power tools in his room even though he wasn’t building anything, and would sit behind roommates in the living room or kitchen and just stare at them, he said.

Scott said he and his girlfriend and the other couple would both block their bedroom doors at night with heavy chests of drawers to prevent Kelly from coming in as they slept.

“I have video from my office showing him walking out of the living room after moving around the house in the dark with a flashlight,” Scott wrote in an October 2020 court document. “I fear he is trying to sneak in and shoot me while I sleep.”

When shown different videos or still pictures from the home security footage, Kelly would claim it was not him, answer a question with a question or simply get really quiet and not answer.

It was then that Scott sought a civil harassment protection order against Kelly, asking that he be ordered to stay 500 feet away from them, turn over his handgun to police and get a mental health evaluation.

Scott wrote in the 45-page petition that his then-girlfriend didn’t want to get involved in the legal action because she was afraid Kelly would show up at her work, causing her to lose her job. The other female resident didn’t want to get involved because she was terrified he was “going to murder her.”

“His behavior is erratic and manic. I have requested for him to remove his pistol from the house. He has denied my request,” Scott wrote. “I have requested him to assure the safety of everyone in the house. He refused to respond.”

Protection order denied

Scott’s request for the protection order in October 2020 was denied and dismissed by Superior Court Judge Sam Swanberg.

The denial order, signed by Swanberg, shows that he ruled Scott had “failed to demonstrate that there is sufficient basis to enter a temporary order without notice to the opposing party.”

“A preponderance of the evidence has not established that there has been harassment,” it continued.

Scott told the Herald that Judge Swanberg read his petition but did not refer back to the file for documents to supplement the landlord’s arguments. He believes the judge thought it was just a ploy to get around the eviction moratorium.

Scott said he tried to work with Kelly, at one point telling him to keep his monthly payment and use it toward rent at a new place. He wanted Kelly to “leave in peace” so the rest of the household could feel safe. Kelly refused and appeared to hunker down, even changing the lock on his bedroom door.

“He would constantly say, ‘Respect my tenancy’” under landlord-tenant laws, he said.

Scott then sought advice from a few lawyers in town, who said Kelly had been establishing residency. He also learned the only legal avenue was to sell his Texada Lane home.

Selling the house

Lawyers said he could only enter the tenant rooms for “hygiene and cleanliness” checks, so he was not allowed to actually look under or inside any personal property. He said he noticed Kelly had set up dried spaghetti noodles against his closet door and in other places to know if items had been touched or moved.

Kelly also had three video cameras inside his room recording activity.

Scott said Kelly and the other residents were served Dec. 9, 2020, with a 60-day notice terminating their tenancy since the property was for sale.

By February 2021, the home was under contract with a buyer but Kelly still wouldn’t leave.

Scott, represented by attorney Jason Celski, filed a residential unlawful detainer in Franklin County Superior Court. It essentially is a lawsuit by an owner/landlord to have their tenant removed.

In a court document, Scott detailed that his home as under contract to be sold and he had to pay the buyers $300 a week to avoid a breach of contract since he couldn’t yet turn over the house.

He also wrote that he needed to close on the Texada Lane home sale immediately to be able to continue the construction on his new home.

He also wanted a judgment for the costs for cleanup and removal of Kelly’s belongings and garbage, and legal fees. He says the total tab is about $6,000, including unpaid rent.

Kelly represented himself on the case, and argued that he was never properly handed any of the legal documents or served through certified mail.

He also claimed Scott tried to illegally evict him and said his landlord had refused to accept his rent money.

At a March 1 hearing, Judge Dave Petersen granted a writ of restitution, which restored possession of the premises to Scott.

Petersen suggested Kelly leave the house as soon as possible if he did not want deputies to come inside and pull him put. But he didn’t leave.

Sheriff’s deputies arrive

On March 5, several sheriff’s deputies met with Scott near the house to go over his home’s layout, so they knew where Kelly was holed up. They closed off the neighborhood to traffic because they feared Kelly might get violent.

By then the house was empty, with all of Scott’s furniture and personal belongings stored in the garage. And he’d flipped the interior garage door lock so Kelly couldn’t access it.

Since the furniture in Kelly’s room belonged to Scott, the “squatter” was now living on the floor of his bedroom.

Deputies searched the house, then yelled for Kelly to come out of his room.

Scott said Kelly stalled, then said, “’Don’t shoot, don’t shoot,’ like he is the victim.”

He walked out of his room with his hands up, but his gun and knife were still on him, Scott told the Herald.

The deputies put handcuffs on Kelly, walked him out of the house and told him never to set foot on the property again. Kelly asked where on the property he could go, and a deputy reiterated that if he even came close to the sidewalk he’d face arrest, said Scott.

Kelly drove down the block and across the street to a parking lot, where he stayed in his car for two weeks.

‘Spiraling’ behavior

Online Franklin County records show the home sale went through on March 9. Scott said every time he returned to move out boxes, he had to call police for extra security just in case Kelly tried to approach him.

Scott said once everything was done, he deleted his Airbnb app and immediately contacted representatives with the online marketplace to let them know about his nightmare experience with one guest.

“I let them know he’s dangerous and violent. He’s a liar and a fraud,” said Scott, noting that he lost most of his records with Airbnb when he ended that business relationship. “I told them that he’s going to kill someone some day.”

Scott said he also posted on the Neighbors app and landlord websites about Kelly, attaching his photo and advising people not to rent to him.

Kelly reportedly had been living somewhere else in Pasco up until the shooting.

Scott said when he told investigators earlier this week that Kelly was “spiraling mentally,” he was referring to “his behavior getting worse and worse” and not his mental health.

“(Police and prosecutors) are saying it was premeditated, and I’m 100% in agreement with that,” he said. “It was not a random act of violence. There’s no way, because Aaron plans. He plans things to such fine detail that I’m sure he knew what to do if he got caught.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 2:24 PM.