PORT ANGELES — Ari Lee King, a Sequim man accused of beating a Joyce woman to death last September, will have to wait a few more months to get his day in court.
King’s second-degree murder trial was reset Friday from May 4 to July 13 because of a pending crime lab investigation.
King, 42, is being held in the Clallam County jail on $1 million bail.
An analysis of DNA found on key evidence, include the carjack that King allegedly used to kill Diane Cunningham in her Salt Creek RV Park home, will take about five weeks to complete, attorneys said.
County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood reset the one-week trial and scheduled a status conference for May 22.
John Troberg, chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, said he discussed the case with a State Patrol crime lab official Wednesday.
“The long and short of it is the various items, and particularly the reported murder weapon, is at the latent print lab,” Troberg told the court.
Investigators have completed an analysis of fingerprints found on the evidence, Troberg said.
“They’ve started some work on the DNA part of it, but what they’re telling me is that it would be five weeks, at least, for the DNA to be serviced, and longer if they need consumptive testing, but they don’t know that yet,” Troberg said.
Defense attorney Loren Oakley did not object to the continuance.
Troberg said the trial should be rescheduled for “at least two months down the line, probably more than that.”
“I’m sure [defense] counsel will want to look at the report and figure out where we are with it,” he said.
King said he understood the reason for the continuance and signed a waiver to his right to a speedy trial.
His original trial date was Jan. 5.
Last seen
Cunningham was last seen with King on surveillance footage gathered from 7 Cedars Casino and the Port Angeles Walmart in the early morning hours of Sept. 28.
Her body was found in the bedroom of her home near Joyce on Oct. 6.
An autopsy showed that Cunningham died of blunt force trauma to the head. She was 65.
Clallam County sheriff’s investigators said a lock box containing Cunningham’s coin collection and $1,700 in cash was missing from the home.
Weeks after her disappearance, Cunningham’s abandoned vehicle was discovered by hunters in a remote area outside of Juntura, Ore.
Two Clallam County sheriff’s deputies combed the eastern Oregon town and arrested King near a bridge in Malheur County, Ore., on Nov. 13.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
