PORT ANGELES — A hearing to reschedule a trial for alleged murderer Ari Lee King was postponed Tuesday because of delays with a crime lab investigation of the alleged murder weapon and other key evidence.
King, 41, of Sequim is charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of Diane Cunningham.
“Certain forensic evidence is still at the crime lab being tested, including the probable murder weapon, the car jack,” John Troberg, Clallam County chief criminal prosecuting attorney, told Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly.
“I talked to the lead investigator this morning to ask if any of the materials have come back. They have not come back from the (State Patrol) crime lab.
“All I can say is that having those standard tests done at a crime lab would appear to be key items of evidence, particularly, obviously, the murder weapon.”
Melly reset the hearing for 9 a.m. Friday.
“We’ll see where we are,” he said.
Cunningham, 65, was found beaten to death in the bedroom of her Salt Creek RV Park mobile home near Joyce on Oct. 6.
Her daughter, Tami Wilson, and her husband, Mike Henshaw, found Cunningham’s body.
They had traveled from King County to her home after they had not heard from her for more than a week.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Office deputies investigating the case have said that Cunningham likely died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Cunningham was last seen accompanied by King on surveillance footage from 7 Cedars Casino and the Port Angeles Walmart in the early morning hours of Sept. 28.
Cunningham’s abandoned vehicle was later discovered by hunters in a remote area of Eastern Oregon outside of Juntura, Ore.
After combing the Oregon town, Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputies found King living under a bridge and arrested him Nov. 13.
King is being held in the Clallam County jail on $1 million bail.
If convicted of second-degree intentional murder, he could face life in prison.
