Seattle engineer freed after month in jail over ‘racist misidentification’

An Amazon software engineer was released Aug. 8 after prosecutors dropped his murder and arson charges, with his attorneys suggesting police made a “rushed and racist misidentification” as they could not distinguish between Asian people.

What happened: Letian Shi, 25, was taken into custody July 10 in connection with a fatal June 4 house fire that claimed the life of 72-year-old Susan Lisette Klee in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood, where she lived alone.

Investigators linked Shi to the case after discovering a Dick’s Drive-In bag at a nearby trash fire at Sun Bear Park and tracking a MasterCard purchase of two deluxe cheeseburgers to “Shi Letian,” then reversing the name to locate “Letian Shi.” However, detectives found no MasterCard when they searched Shi’s residence, while fingerprints from the bag and a vehicle failed to match his. The Chinese national, who moved to Seattle more than two years ago, said cell phone records showed him at home when the fire occurred and that the credit card belonged to “Shi Leitan,” not “Letian Shi.”

Maintaining innocence: Defense attorneys Brooks de Peyster and Rebecca Bradlow reportedly filed court documents showing side-by-side photos of Shi and the Dick’s suspect, highlighting different hairlines, chin shapes and nose widths — evidence they claim was excluded from the probable cause statement.

“This experience has deeply wounded Mr. Shi. His lack of trust in the criminal legal system has robbed him of his sense of safety, haunted by the fear that he will be taken yet again from his community without reason,” his lawyers said.

Why this matters: The case highlights troubling patterns in criminal misidentification, particularly affecting Asian Americans when investigators struggle to distinguish between individuals of the same ethnicity. Shi’s attorneys argued that prosecutors ignored evidence that could have cleared him and failed to demand a thorough investigation before filing charges that threatened his job and immigration status as a lawful U.S. resident.

Police eventually acknowledged that they arrested an innocent man, with the real suspect remaining at large and potentially dangerous. Meanwhile, multiple suspicious fires have continued in Seattle, suggesting the actual arsonist remains active.

Anyone with information on the true arsonist is urged to contact the Seattle Police Department’s Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.