David Kalac is a Washington state man serving 82 years in prison for the November 2014 first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Amber Lynn Coplin, in Port Orchard. The case became known as the David Kalac 4chan murder because Kalac photographed Coplin’s body after strangling her and uploaded the images to the anonymous imageboard 4chan, taunting other users to watch the local news before he fled the state.
Who Amber Coplin Was and How She Died
Amber Coplin was 30 years old. She had been dating Kalac since 2012, but by late 2014 she was trying to end the relationship. She let him stay in her Port Orchard apartment anyway because she felt bad about putting him out and believed he had nowhere to go. People close to her described the relationship as one of constant conflict, heavy drinking, and physical violence.1Kitsap Sun. Victim of Gruesome Port Orchard Killing Wanted Out of Relationship
On the night of November 3, 2014, a family member heard the two of them fighting. Kalac strangled Coplin with his hands and then with a cord or shoelace. The medical examiner listed the cause of death as strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.2Fox 13 Seattle. Port Orchard Man Who Posted Photos of Dead Girlfriend Online Convicted of Murder
The next afternoon, Coplin’s 13-year-old son came home from school, noticed a smell from his mother’s bedroom, and opened the door. Her body lay covered by blankets, her face hidden under a pillow. Her ID had been placed on the pillow with the word “dead” written on it. The boy texted his father, who came within ten minutes, got the children out of the apartment, and called 911 at 3:26 p.m. on November 4, 2014.3Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, No. 80643-2-I
What Kalac Posted to 4chan
Before anyone found Coplin, an anonymous user on 4chan’s /b/ board uploaded photographs of a naked woman with visible signs of strangulation. The post read: “Turns out it’s way harder to strangle someone to death than it looks on the movies… She fought so Damn hard.”4Time. David Kalac 4chan Murder Oregon
When other users called the images fake, the poster replied: “Check the news for Port Orchard, Washington, in a few hours. Her son will be home from school soon. He’ll find her, then call the cops. I just wanted to share the pics before they find me.”5The Guardian. Oregon Police Chase Murder Suspect Investigators later confirmed the photos matched the crime scene: the victim, the visible trauma, and the apartment interior all lined up.6NBC News. 4chan Murder Suspect David Kalac Surrenders to Police
Kalac posted the images from the parking lot of a Walmart in Chehalis, Washington, where he had just bought a BB pistol built to look like a semi-automatic handgun. In the same post he wrote that he intended to point the replica at police to force them to shoot him: “I bought a bb gun that looks realistic enough. When they come, I’ll pull it and it will be suicide by cop.”3Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, No. 80643-2-I
4chan’s moderators began deleting the threads as they appeared. By then the images had already spread elsewhere on the internet, and the court would later note that they remained available.7CityNews Ottawa. Lolcats, Nude Photos and Murder: Is 4chan the Web’s Underbelly?
The Run to Oregon and the Surrender
Kalac left Washington in Coplin’s gold 2001 Ford Focus. On the morning of November 4, he texted a friend that the friend would soon read about him in the news. He drove roughly 180 miles south to Oregon, stopping to pawn Coplin’s laptop for $125 at a Cash America store.3Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, No. 80643-2-I
At about 1:15 a.m. on November 5, Portland police spotted the stolen car and tried to pull him over. Kalac sped away, crossing the Ross Island Bridge and heading south on Barbur Boulevard. Officers called off the chase after he swerved into oncoming traffic.8The Guardian. Suspect in 4chan Case Surrenders to Police in Oregon The car turned up abandoned that afternoon.
Kalac spent the hours that followed in an abandoned transient camp in the woods near Wilsonville, about 20 miles south of Portland. Around 8:45 p.m., he walked out of the woods at the Westside Express Service transit station, approached a Wilsonville officer, identified himself, and said he had an active warrant. Officers took him into custody without incident.9Fox 13 Seattle. Man Accused of Brutally Killing Woman, Posting Photos Online, Surrenders to Police
Investigators searched the camp and found the BB gun hidden inside a box spring. They also recovered a handwritten note in black permanent marker: “I killed Amber Coplin. I strangled her with my hands then a shoelace. I had no reason other than I was drunk and she pissed me off. Running from the cops was so fun.”3Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, No. 80643-2-I
Kalac’s Criminal History
Kalac had a long record. Court files showed roughly 50 criminal infractions across 18 cases dating back to 1997, when he was a juvenile. His adult convictions included a 2011 Bremerton assault with a deadly weapon involving a knife attack on an older man, multiple DUIs, driving without a license, and bypassing a court-ordered ignition interlock device.10Kitsap Daily News. Convicted Murderer Kalac Has a Long and Troubling Criminal Past
In March 2014, just months before Coplin’s death, Kalac had pleaded guilty to harassment for threatening to kill a different ex-girlfriend, Jessi Foster, while brandishing a knife. He was sentenced to community custody.10Kitsap Daily News. Convicted Murderer Kalac Has a Long and Troubling Criminal Past
An Attack in the Kitsap County Jail
On December 9, 2014, while awaiting trial, Kalac bypassed his cell lock using a playing card, entered the cell of another inmate, Wayne Carlson, pulled him from his bunk, and stomped on his head. Investigators believed Carlson was a friend of Coplin. Carlson suffered cuts and bruises and hit the emergency button.11KOMO News. Accused Port Orchard Murderer Charged in Jail Assault
Prosecutors charged Kalac with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and unlawful imprisonment. The charges were dropped in February 2015 because prosecutors could not locate Carlson, then later refiled. The Court of Appeals eventually affirmed the burglary and unlawful imprisonment convictions but ordered the attempted murder count dismissed.12Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, Supreme Court No. 93637-1
The Trial and the Diminished Capacity Defense
Kalac’s defense did not deny that he killed Coplin. Attorney Adrian Pimentel argued diminished capacity, telling the court, “Alcohol permeates this case.” A psychologist testified that Kalac suffered from severe alcoholism and a brain disorder that kept him from forming the intent required for premeditated first-degree murder. Kalac told the psychologist he was drinking a half-gallon of vodka a day. The defense was aiming for second-degree murder, which carries a shorter sentence and eventual eligibility for release.13Kitsap Sun. Kalac’s Boss: He Was a Functional Alcoholic
Lead prosecutor Ione George focused the jury on the roughly 100 seconds during which Kalac moved from beating Coplin to strangling her with his hands and then tightening a ligature around her neck. Under Washington law, premeditation requires planning that lasts “more than a moment in time,” and George argued the escalating methods proved it. She read Kalac’s own words back to the jury: “She fought so damn hard.” She told them, “It wasn’t over in a snap. It took some time.”14Kitsap Sun. Kalac Case Goes to Jurors
On April 19, 2017, a Kitsap County Superior Court jury convicted Kalac of first-degree murder, theft of a motor vehicle, and second-degree possession of stolen property. Jurors also found two aggravating factors: that Kalac’s actions had a foreseeable impact on people beyond the victim, and that he had displayed an egregious lack of remorse.15Kitsap Sun. Jury Finds Kalac Guilty of First-Degree Murder
Why the Sentence Was 82 Years
On May 16, 2017, Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jeanette Dalton sentenced Kalac to 82 years, double the standard maximum of 41 years. The exceptional sentence rested on the two aggravating factors the jury had found. Both traced back to what Kalac did after killing Coplin: posting the photos online, and leaving her body where he knew her son would be the one to find it.16Kitsap Sun. Kalac Gets 82 Years for Murder of Amber Coplin
Coplin’s family wore purple at the hearing. Her grandmother, Rebecca Coplin, told the court that the victim’s five children were still suffering, that the youngest still waited for his mother to come home, and that the boys woke up screaming at night. One of Coplin’s sons submitted a written statement: “Those pictures will forever haunt me.” Kalac told the court, “The only thing I can say is, I am sorry and I will never forgive myself.”16Kitsap Sun. Kalac Gets 82 Years for Murder of Amber Coplin
Prosecutor George asked for an effective life sentence, telling the judge, “It will never go away. The impact on this family and this world will never go away.” Pimentel argued that 45 years was more appropriate and said the enhancement was “tantamount” to punishing Kalac for killing two people. Judge Dalton sided with the state, saying that the online photos would obstruct healing for the family and community indefinitely because although 4chan had removed them, they remained available across the internet.16Kitsap Sun. Kalac Gets 82 Years for Murder of Amber Coplin
The Appeal
Kalac appealed. He challenged the trial court’s refusal to suppress evidence from the apartment, arguing that homicide detectives entered without a warrant after a deputy’s initial safety sweep. The Washington Court of Appeals rejected that argument, finding the detectives’ entry was a lawful continuation of the emergency response because they retraced the same path, opened no closed containers or doors, and observed only what was already in plain view.3Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, No. 80643-2-I
Kalac also challenged the sufficiency of the evidence of premeditation and certain jury instructions. In an opinion issued April 13, 2020, the Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions and the 82-year sentence, with a single modification remanding for the trial court to strike certain fees and nonrestitution interest. Kalac then petitioned the Washington Supreme Court for review, repeating arguments about the exceptional sentence that the Court of Appeals had already rejected.17Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, Petition for Review, No. 98531-6
Kalac is serving the 82-year sentence in Washington state custody, with the vehicle theft and stolen property sentences running concurrently.3Washington Courts. State v. Kalac, No. 80643-2-I