[chris]

A Kitsap County Superior Court jury convicted Fatih Mehmet Ketenci, then 48, of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Celestia Marie Ketenci, in Kingston, Kitsap County, Washington. The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office announced on October 28, 2025, that he had been convicted on 15 counts, including burglary, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, robbery, felony harassment, assault and several violations of court orders. Sentencing was set for November 14, 2025. His sentence has not been reported. Washington Department of Corrections records list him in custody at the Washington State Penitentiary.

According to probable cause documents, the couple's 17-year-old son picked Ketenci up at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on the night of February 26, 2025, after he returned from a trip abroad. They went to the family's property under construction on Paul Drive. Ketenci allegedly pointed a nail gun at his son, threatened his life, demanded the keys to Celestia's home and made the teenager tie himself up with extension cords. He took the son's phone and keys and left.

Early on February 27, Ketenci allegedly kicked in the bedroom door at Celestia's home on Virginia Avenue Northeast, where she was with her daughters, ages 10 and 3. The 10-year-old told police her father held a large knife and ordered the girls into the bathroom. She heard arguing and her mother calling for help, then a scream, then nothing. Celestia was stabbed in the torso and back. The son freed himself, walked about a mile home and found his mother dead. At 1:33 a.m., he called 911 and said his father had killed his mother with a knife. The girls escaped through a bathroom window and hid near a chicken coop until officers arrived.

Ketenci crashed his SUV on Marine View Drive, about half a mile from the home. Sheriff's deputies took him into custody without incident. He had blood on his body and clothes and reportedly told a deputy he had killed his wife. He was taken to a hospital in Gig Harbor because of the crash. Officers found the suspected murder weapon in the bathroom sink. He was held without bail and charged with 13 counts, including first-degree murder, burglary, kidnapping, robbery, assault, harassment, unlawful imprisonment and protection order violations.

Detectives questioned Ketenci from about 11 a.m. to about 1 p.m. on February 27, 2025, less than ten hours after the 911 call. According to charging papers, he said he had tried to drown himself the evening before. He said money was a problem in the marriage and the courts had ruined his life by taking his home, his money and his children. He said he took a knife into the bedroom, Celestia grabbed it and stabbed him in the hand, and he wrestled it away and stabbed her before he "blacked out." Near the end of the interview, he again said he stabbed her.

Ketenci, 47 at the time of the killing and a native of Turkey, and Celestia, 48, married in Istanbul on December 16, 2003, according to divorce filings. They had three children, the 17-year-old son and the two daughters. Celestia and the children lived at the Virginia Avenue Northeast home.

Celestia had a protection order against her husband issued in October 2024. On February 25, 2025, she filed online to dissolve the marriage, stating that it had been irretrievably broken since a domestic violence incident on November 7, 2024.

[chris]

Part 2 of 2 of the recording described above.