Trial begins of alleged murderer of transgender teenage boy from Clark County

The trial of a Clark County man accused of murdering a 17-year-old transgender girl and dumping her body near Larch Mountain began Monday.

The jury selection for the case against David Bogdanov, 27, began on August 16 in the Clark County Superior Court. He is charged with second degree murder and malicious mischief in connection with the June 2019 murder of Nikki Kuhnhausen.

Kuhnhausen’s remains were discovered on December 7th of this year near the Lärchenberg by a citizen. Bogdanov was arrested on December 17th after a police investigation.

Kuhnhausen was initially reported missing by her mother on June 10 and not seen by her roommates after she left in the early hours of June 6 with a man later identified as Bogdanov.

Bogdanov allegedly killed Kuhnhausen after “getting angry” after learning that she was born biologically male. Kuhnhausen left her apartment late on June 5th. She later returned with Bogdanov, telling her friends that Bogdanov would help her get a cell phone before leaving with him, according to a likely affidavit for his arrest.

Cell phone records and social media data were used by investigators to link Kuhnhausen and Bogdanov, the Vancouver Police Department reported at the time of Bogdanov’s arrest. He was interviewed in October 2019.

In the interview, Bogdanov said he met with Kuhnhausen in downtown Vancouver, the affidavit said. After going to Kuhnhausen’s apartment, the two made their way to an apartment to get the cell phone. While “chatting” after arriving at the residence, Kuhnhausen revealed that she was transgender, which Bogdanov said during his interview that he was uncomfortable. He said he told Kuhnhausen to get out of his vehicle and she walked away.

Although Bogdanov said he then went to work at a construction site in downtown Portland, the cell phone recordings showed otherwise, according to the affidavit. The records indicated that after leaving the residence, he went to the Larch Mountain and Camp Bonneville area before returning to the residence.

After Kuhnhausen’s remains were found and identified, investigators tried again to contact Bogdanov, although he made no further statements and was arrested at the time, Vancouver Police Lt. Tom Ryan at a press conference in December 2019.

Bogdanov’s charge of malicious nonsense came from the prosecution, who viewed Kuhnhausen’s death as a hate crime.

In 2020, Kuhnhausen’s death was commemorated in the “Nikki Kuhnhausen Act,” passed by Washington state lawmakers and signed by Governor Jay Inslee on March 5, gender expression or sexual orientation do not justify physical assault, “it says a statement from the Democrats in the Washington State Senate following the passage of the law.