Signs of Isaac L. Zamora’s troubled mental state emerged as early as age 16, when he took a pistol from the glove box of his mother’s car and hid it in his bedroom.

Zamora told law enforcement officers the gun was stolen but later confessed to removing it from the car himself, according to Skagit County Superior Court documents detailing the Dec. 2, 1996, incident.

Court records offer the barest glimpse into the life of the 28-year-old Alger man who seemed on a relentless path of self-destruction.

Zamora is now suspected of killing six people, including a well-liked Skagit County Sheriff’s deputy, and wounding four others in a rampage through his own parents’ Alger neighborhood and down Interstate 5.

Zamora’s run-ins with the law, resulting in about 50 court cases in Washington state, began when he was a juvenile and appear to be fueled by substance abuse, mental illness and an inability to manage his anger, according to law enforcement reports and witnesses statements from 1997 to 2008.

Compared to the potential murder charges that Zamora faces now, his previous encounters with the criminal justice system are minor. The vast majority of the cases are misdemeanors, ranging from driving on a suspended license to marijuana possession to misdemeanor assault. Eight cases are felonies, three occurring before he turned 18.

The first time most people became aware of Zamora was from the photographs of his arrest Tuesday. He had opened a page on the MySpace Web site, but that appeared to have been taken down by Wednesday afternoon.

In a photo he posted at MySpace, Zamora sat with his hands on his legs. He wore tan slacks, a blue tie and a white button-down shirt that has been unfastened to show his bare chest. In the photo, his expression shows no emotion; he mainly looks tired.

Zamora’s last visit to the Web site was Dec. 4, 2007, about 11 days before he was arrested on charges of cocaine possession during a routine traffic stop.

His page has few entries, just two people who’ve posted in as Zamora’s friends, including one who on Aug. 11, 2007, wished him a “happy late birthday [sic] IKE.”

He says his astrological sign is Leo, and that he created the site to “network, date, make friends and for serious relationships,” according to the MySpace “Here for” entry.

The word “Famous” is printed in an Old English-style type font at the top of the Web page.

As a teen, Zamora was accused of various minor crimes, such as vandalism, underage drinking and petty theft.

Zamora’s early arrests may have seemed like the result of a teenager making poor decisions — sneaking out at night with his friends to smoke cigarettes, drink and ride around in his unsuspecting parents’ car. In at least one case, charges were dismissed and restitution was to be paid to victims.

In 1997, after he took his mother’s gun, then-Court Commissioner David Needy ordered Zamora to attend counseling, the nature of which wasn’t described in the court documents, and serve five days in the Skagit County Juvenile Detention facility.

Later that year, Zamora was involved in several break-ins into vehicles in Anacortes and at the Skagit Regional Airport. In the Anacortes case, when he was 17, he and eight other teens broke into several cars, stealing car stereos and cell phones.

After his arrest, his mother brought him to the police department where he confessed, detailing how the boys wanted to cause mischief and make prank calls on the cellular phones. The charge was later dismissed.

As an adult, he was charged with theft in 2000; misdemeanor assault, 2003; theft, 2005; bail jumping, 2007; and cocaine possession, 2008. In several of these cases, he was ordered to seek counseling and treatment for substance abuse.

Kelli Armstrong-Smith, a private defense lawyer who practices in Skagit County, represented Zamora about five years ago when she worked for the Skagit County Public Defender.

“I remember that there was substantial mental health issues,” Armstrong-Smith said. “Because of that, he received a reduced sentence, and (eventually) went to Alaska.”

The 2003 third-degree assault charge arose from a biting incident in which the victim was a staff member at North Sound Evaluation and Treatment Center, near Sedro-Woolley. The victim told deputies that he was bitten when he and other staff members tried to restrain Zamora on Oct. 23 of that year.

In May of this year Zamora was convicted of cocaine possession stemming from a December 2007 traffic stop by Sedro-Woolley police who found the drug in the back of a van where he had been sitting.

Zamora was sentenced to six months in the Skagit County jail and state officers were to supervise him for a year. The state Department of Corrections officer’s responsibility to supervise Zamora started less than a month ago. The corrections officer assigned to him is on family leave.

Zamora was required to undergo a mental health evaluation. State officers were working with him to schedule an appointment. Part of the hold-up was Zamora’s need to find a way to pay for it, state officials say.