Michael La Rosa was charged Wednesday in a random hatchet attack on Richard Dale Holme on Nov. 21 in Seattle's International District.

Police said the slaying occurred the day before La Rosa used the same hatchet to kill Joseph LaMagno on a sidewalk in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. La Rosa was charged earlier with murder in LaMagno’s slaying.

According to probable cause documents, Holme was found unconscious against a wall at Fifth Avenue South and South Weller Street, bleeding profusely from head injuries. Holmes never regained consciousness and died at Harborview Hospital, police said.

After an autopsy was completed on Holme’s body, the medical examiner said the wounds on the victim’s body were from a hatchet or ax.

During a police interview with La Rosa, La Rosa first denied any involvement in the attack on Holme but later changed his mind and said he would tell officers what happened if they provided cigarettes, documents said.

La Rosa said he was walking when he saw Holme and got a cigarette from him, court documents said.

La Rosa said the cigarette tasted like gasoline, and he thought he was going to die, could not breathe and “felt like I had to defend himself,” probable cause documents said.

Documents said La Rosa told investigators he took a hatchet out of his backpack and struck Holme several times on the head, causing Holme to fall to the ground.

La Rosa said he “casually walked away” and left the area on a bus, the documents said.

Court papers said, on Jan. 21, DNA tests done on blood from the hatchet and the inside of a backpack worn by La Rosa matched DNA profiles of both LaMagno and Holme.

Police said La Rosa told them he lives in shelters and on the street but wanted to camp out and bought a hatchet so he could chop wood. La Rosa kept the hatchet in a backpack he carried, police said.

La Rosa said he was off his medications when the slayings occurred.

A judge also found La Rosa competent to stand trial and arraigned him on both murder charges Wednesday.

La Rosa pleaded not guilty to both murder charges and is scheduled to return to court for a case-setting hearing Mar. 2 at 1 p.m. at the King County Courthouse.

Previous Stories: November 30, 2010: Man In Capitol Hill Hatchet Attack A Suspect In Separate Homicide November 24, 2010: Police: Brutal Hatchet Killing Random November 22, 2010: Man Killed On Capitol Hill In Freak Hatchet Attack