Court hearing delayed for man charged in 1994 Seattle cold case murder

Man charged with 1994 murder of Tanya Frazier in court

Seattle police arrested Mark Anthony Russ, 57, after DNA evidence linked him to the 1994 killing of 14-year-old Tanya Frazier. Russ was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of homicide and is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday at 2 p.m.

SEATTLE - A 57-year-old man charged in the 1994 stabbing death of 14-year-old Tanya Marie Frazier, a cold case solved more than three decades later, will not appear in court Wednesday afternoon as previously scheduled. 

Seattle police arrested Mark Anthony Russ last week after DNA evidence linked him in connection with the murder. 

He was expected to make his first court appearance at 2 p.m., but on Wednesday morning the court hearing was delayed. 

Tanya Frazier and Mark Russ. (FOX 13 Seattle / WA Department of Corrections)

Prosecutors say Russ, who was recently released from prison after a prior sentence was reduced, could face life in prison if convicted.

The backstory:

Tanya disappeared on July 18, 1994, after leaving a summer school class at Meany Middle School. 

She was on her way to a thrift shop where she worked, but never arrived. Her body was discovered later that day by a man walking his dog in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, just blocks from where she was last seen.

Investigators believe Russ, who is listed as a Level III sex offender and was non-compliant at the time of his arrest, chose Tanya at random. 

According to court documents, Russ had previously been convicted of first-degree attempted rape in 1996 and served time for a home invasion robbery that same year. He was sentenced to life in prison but was re-sentenced and released in 2021.

MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE

Police pursuit ends in deadly motorcycle crash in Lakewood, WA

Seattle Sounders' Cristian Roldan named to 2025 MLS Best XI

Everett, WA woman hospitalized amid national listeria outbreak

WA election results: Tracking the race for King County executive

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.

Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.'