PORT ANGELES — A conditions of release hearing for the man being investigated for second-degree murder was rescheduled for today as attorneys focused Tuesday on whether Marquise Gregory Hagans-Moore should be shackled in Clallam County Superior Court.
Judge Simon Barnhart said resolving the issue of shackling and the filing of charges would take place at today’s 1 p.m. hearing, when Judge Lauren Erickson will be on the bench.
Hagans-Moore, 26, is suspected of killing Rebecca Ann Rule-Cowles, 51, who was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound at the residence the two shared in the 300 block of Whidby Avenue in Port Angeles. The date and time of Rule-Cowles’ death has yet to be determined.
Hagans-Moore remained Tuesday in the Clallam County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin and Hagans-Moore’s court-appointed attorney, William Payne, argued Tuesday whether Hagans-Moore should remain shackled in court.
“I do find there’s a basis for maintaining shackling for this hearing, but I’m a little bit reluctant to issue a blanket order for all time and all purposes that he must be shackled,” Barnhart said. “What we would be looking at in future hearings would be new information that would tend to suggest aggravating circumstances for continued shackling or not.”
As she did in Hagans-Moore’s first court appearance before Erickson on Monday, Devlin argued he should remain in shackles for any video and in-person court appearances due to the seriousness of the potential charges against him and the nature of the threats he had made since being booked into the Clallam County Corrections Facility at 3 a.m. Sunday.
She said he had yelled, “I will kill you all,” and “I promise you someone will die” if he had to appear in court.
Payne, who appeared with a shackled Hagans-Moore from the multipurpose room in the jail, where court video appearances take place, said it wasn’t possible to hold a private conversation in the space because of the presence of two deputies tasked with watching Hagans-Moore.
As for his actions in jail, Payne said a mental health evaluation ordered by the prosecution showed Hagans-Moore had “several mental health issues that might be affecting his behavior.”
Hagans-Moore turned up at a Pierce County Corrections facility in Tacoma at 6:29 p.m. Saturday, telling law enforcement there he had killed his roommate in Port Angeles, according to a Port Angeles Police Department probable cause report.
Port Angeles police officers conducted a welfare check at the Whidby Avenue address, where they found Rule-Cowles. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives traveled to Tacoma, where they took Hagans-Moore into custody and transported him to Clallam County.
Port Angeles police interviewed two juveniles, whom Hagans-Moore said were his wife’s children and were apparently asleep in the home when Rule-Cowles was killed, according to the probable cause report.
On Monday, Devlin argued for $500,000 bail with restrictions on Hagans-Moore’s movements. She noted that he is the respondent in a domestic violence protection order issued by Thurston County Superior Court that demanded he surrender all his firearms.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
