PORT ANGELES — A Sequim woman was charged Monday with attempted murder and felony assault for allegedly stabbing a neighbor she was dating.
Larisa Jean Dietz, 48, was charged in connection with the Oct. 8 stabbing of Ricky Lynn McGowan at the Sunbelt Apartments in Sequim.
McGowan, 58, was listed in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center on Monday.
Dietz will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday in Clallam County Superior Court. She is being held in the Clallam County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin charged Dietz with attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault.
Both counts contained deadly weapon enhancements and the special allegation that McGowan was a vulnerable victim. The enhancements could lengthen Dietz’s prison term if she were to be convicted of the charges.
“McGowan is ambulatory but normally uses a walker or a wheelchair to get around,” Sequim Police Detective Devin McBride said in the affidavit for probable cause.
Clallam County Fire District No. 3 personnel found McGowan laying on his side in a pool of blood and fatty tissue when they broke into his apartment at about 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8.
McGowan, who alerted other neighbors by yelling for help, had two deep tissue wounds on both sides of his neck, McBride said.
A woman later identified as Dietz had her armed wrapped around McGowan’s neck and upper torso and was “trying to jam her hand in his mouth” when medics arrived, McBride said in court papers.
McGowan told police that Dietz attacked him with a knife when he opened the door.
Dietz told police that she had been stabbed but medics found no evidence of a stab wound on her body, police said.
An apartment manager told police that Dietz and McGowan began a romantic/sexual relationship about six weeks prior to the stabbing.
An upside-down cross and the word “DIE” were painted on the outside of McGowan’s door shortly after they began dating, McBride said.
On Sept. 21, Dietz told police that McGowan had exposed himself to her and sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit.
Dietz appeared in court Monday on a video monitor from a conference room in the jail.
Her attorney, Karen Unger, appeared telephonically after visiting another client at the Kitsap County Jail.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brian Coughenour signed a no-contact order prohibiting Dietz from having any contact with the alleged victim.
“I think it’s appropriate,” Coughenour said.
Dietz was arrested July 12 for allegedly assaulting another boyfriend and biting an officer, McBride said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
