Suspect arrested in Palms Inn fatal stabbing outside Santa Rosa

Sonoma County sheriff deputies have arrested a 27-year-old Petaluma man suspected of stabbing to death Tuesday a resident of the Palms Inn housing site on Santa Rosa’s southern outskirts.

Skyler Rasmussen was arrested after interviews with “numerous witnesses,” according to a Sheriff’s Office news release late Thursday afternoon.

The victim, William Woodard, 36, had lived at the Palms Inn on Santa Rosa Avenue since late 2021.

First responders found Woodard lying inside his own room in a pool of blood early Tuesday after a 2:38 a.m. report to authorities of the stabbing. They had to break a window to get into the second-story room, where they tried to keep Woodard alive. He died at a local hospital.

Detectives continue to investigate a possible motive in the stabbing, said Sgt. Juan Valencia, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. He said detectives are continuing to investigate if the two men knew each other. Rasmussen did not live at the Palms, Valencia said.

Rasmussen had been released from jail just seven days before the slaying. He was supposed to report to a rehabilitation facility, according to the sheriff’s release. Valencia was not aware if Rasmussen did so.

Detectives found Rasmussen in Santa Rosa and he accompanied them to the Sheriff’s Office for questioning. He was arrested there following those interviews, Valencia said.

Rasmussen was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of murder as well as for outstanding felony arrest warrants stemming from violation of probation, child abuse, domestic violence and evading arrest, authorities said.

Rasmussen had been arrested in early November 2021 after authorities said he led Santa Rosa police on an 85 mph chase that ended when his car caught fire on Highway 101, according to authorities at that time.

Rasmussen had an outstanding warrant for violating parole and probation at that time and led officers on the chase that ended in Cotati after a Santa Rosa police officer tried to stop him for speeding.

Friends, family and neighbors at the Palms earlier this week described Woodard, who grew up in Rohnert Park, as a kind and social man, concerned for friends’ well-being and welcoming to strangers sometimes to a fault.

The Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate Woodard’s death and asks anyone with information about the homicide to call the Violent Crimes Unit at 707-565-2185 or submit a “silent-witness form” at www.sonomasheriff.org/silent-witness.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88