KINGSTON, Wash. — Newly-obtained court documents detail the moments three children under the age of 17 had to flee their father, who allegedly violated a no-contact order and stabbed his estranged wife to death inside their Kingston home.
On Feb. 27, police responded to a call from a 17-year-old, who said his father tied him up at a property under construction before killing his mother.
When police arrived at the home on Virginia Ave., they found what looked like a kicked-in bedroom door and a woman inside, who had been stabbed to death.
The woman was identified as 48-year-old Celestia Marie Ketenci.
The 17-year-old son gave officers a description of his father and his father’s car, and they were quickly able to track down 47-year-old Fatih Ketenci.
Ketenci had only made it about half a mile from his wife’s home before he crashed his SUV.
He was taken into custody without incident.
Moments before the stabbing
According to court documents, Celestia had an order of protection against her husband that was issued in October 2024.
Paperwork initiating a divorce had been filed in Kitsap County just two days before Celestia was killed.
On Feb. 26, several hours before the deadly stabbing, police responded to the home. A neighbor, who knew about the protection order, hadn’t been able to contact Celestia and saw a strange car in her driveway. Police were able to make contact with Celestia and they left.
Later that night, the 17-year-old picked up Ketenci at SeaTac Airport after his father spent a month in Mexico. The pair then drove separately to a home on Paul Drive that was under construction and served as Ketenci’s home while the protection order was in place.
When the pair got there, Ketenci allegedly pointed a nail gun at his son and threatened his life while demanding the keys to his estranged wife’s home, according to court documents.
Ketenci forced his son to tie himself up with extension cords, court documents detail. Then, Ketenci drove off, leaving his 17-year-old son tied up.
What detectives say happened to Celestia
According to court documents, Ketenci entered the Virginia Avenue home around 1 a.m.
He allegedly kicked down the door to the master bedroom, where Celestia and her 10-year-old and 3-year-old daughters were.
The 10-year-old girl later told police that her father had kicked the door in, yelling something along the lines of “Surprise!” while holding up a large knife.
Ketenci allegedly forced his two daughters into the bathroom and threatened to kill them if they left or called for help, according to court documents.
The 10-year-old said she heard arguing and screaming for about half an hour before things went silent.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old was able to get free from his extension cord restraints, according to court documents.
He used the built-in flashlight of the very nail gun he was threatened with to light his way home.
The teen found his father’s car in the driveway, and grabbed his cell phone which he had left inside from their earlier drive.
He then hid in the car, keeping an eye on the home.
When he saw his father leave the home, he made his way inside, according to court documents.
It was then that the teen discovered his mother bloodied and stabbed to death in her room.
His two young sisters, 10 and 3, escaped out a bathroom window and hid in a chicken coop in the backyard waiting for first responders.
Ketenci’s arrest
Ketenci was arrested after deputies found his crashed car half a mile away from the murder scene. According to court documents, he had blood on him and was missing a shoe.
While being questioned by detectives, he notably kept bringing up money, according to court documents. Ketenci said money was a problem in their marriage and insinuated that’s what made him mad on the night of his estranged wife’s death, documents detailed. Investigators noted that he kept bringing most conversations back to money, and how his wife wanted his.
He “began to speak to the camera as if speaking to the courts himself. He started listing off how the courts have ruined his life. He said they took his home, his money, his kids,” a detective speaking with Ketenci recalled in court documents.
Ketenci also claimed he was “very smart” and was recently unable to recall things in the short term “due to his kids being taken away from him,” according to court documents. According to the documents, he kept calling his children “[his] oxytocin.” Oxytocin is a natural hormone in the brain that plays a crucial role in human behavior and social interactions.
Detectives said there was a “long history of documented domestic violence” between Celestia and Ketenci.
He told law enforcement that he was in Mexico for a month to “repent for slapping her.”
Ketenci has been charged with:
- First-degree felony murder (committing murder in furtherance of another crime)
- First-degree premeditated murder/domestic violence of an intimate partner
- First-degree kidnapping
- First-degree burglary/assault with a deadly weapon
- Second-degree assault with a deadly weapon
- Two counts of a violation of a court order felony assault
- Violation of a court order (first or second violation)
- Harassment threat to kill
- Unlawful imprisonment
When asked about the events of the night, Ketenci allegedly told detectives:
“Well, I regret what I did. I still don’t believe she’s dead. I don’t believe it. It was so quick. I don’t remember — I didn’t look at it, how I did it.”
Ketenci is being held with no bail at the Kitsap County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 11.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the surviving children.
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