PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man accused of double murder, who allegedly told police he was targeting sex offenders, was placed in a segregated cell last week in the Clallam County jail after he stabbed a man serving time for failing to register as a sex offender, said jail Superintendent Ron Sukert.
Patrick Drum, 34, stabbed Joseph W. Recoy, 19, of Port Angeles with the sharpened handle of a plastic utensil, Sukert said last week.
Recoy received minor puncture wounds from the combination fork-spoon allegedly wielded by Drum and was not hospitalized, Sukert said.
Drum is awaiting an Aug. 6 trial on two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Jerry W. Ray, 56, of Port Angeles and Gary L. Blanton Jr., 28, of Sequim, Drum’s housemate.
The bodies of Ray and Blanton were found inside their homes June 3, the same day Drum was arrested.
Drum told authorities he shot Blanton and Ray multiple times “because they were sex offenders” and that he was planning to drive to Quilcene to kill another convicted sex offender.
The fight in which Recoy was hurt occurred Monday morning in the recreation area in the presence of jail staff, Sukert said.
Another prisoner discovered Recoy’s offense and pointed him out to Drum, Sukert said.
“[Drum] had help in figuring out what this kid was about and chose to attack him,” Sukert said. “Staff were immediately able to intervene and stop the attack.”
Drum, who is being held without bail, was placed in a segregated cell, where he must stay for 23 hours a day, Sukert said.
A charging referral against Drum for the alleged attack was forwarded to the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Sukert said.
Recoy is serving nine months for two counts of failing to register as a sex offender and for bail jumping for failure to appear in court, according to court records.
He was 13 when he pleaded guilty Oct. 11, 2006, to first-degree child molestation.
A convicted felon, Drum also is charged with first-degree burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Superior Court Judge Ken Williams on Thursday granted Drum’s request to act as his own lawyer in defending himself against the charges.
Drum had a plea of not guilty to the charges entered for him June 13 by Port Angeles lawyer Karen Unger after Williams would not allow him to enter a guilty plea.
Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly has until a July 13 status hearing to decide whether to seek the death penalty.
The alternative would be to seek life in prison.
She said in a June 13 interview that in cases in which the death penalty is a possibility, a defendant cannot plead guilty until the prosecution has had the chance to fully decide if “there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency.”
Drum had done research on a computer to find out the names of convicted sex offenders, Detective Sgt. Lyman Moores said in an earlier interview.
Ray and Blanton were listed, with photographs, as sex offenders on a Clallam County Sheriff’s Office website.
Drum was in and out of jail and prison between July 1998 to March 2009 for charges generated in Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties that included residential burglary, second-degree burglary, tampering with a witness, drug possession, possession of stolen property and unlawful issuance of checks, according to the state Department of Corrections.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
