Ari Lee King ()

Ari Lee King ()

Trial in Joyce beating death to be reset at hearing this month

PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man accused of beating a Joyce woman to death with a carjack will get a new trial date April 17.

Ari Lee King, 42, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Diane Cunningham, 65.

The trial is scheduled for May 4, but attorneys said at a March 20 status hearing that they were still awaiting lab reports on DNA and fingerprint evidence and would need to reset the date.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

A trial reset hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. April 17 in Clallam County Superior Court.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg was not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Still in jail

King remained in the Clallam County jail Thursday on $1 million bail.

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.

Her body was found in the bedroom of her home in the Salt Creek RV Park near Joyce on Oct. 6.

An autopsy showed that Cunningham died of blunt force trauma to the head.

A lock box containing Cunningham’s coin collection and $1,700 in cash was missing from the home, court papers said.

King was seen driving alone in Cunningham’s 1999 Audi on a state ferry Sept. 28.

Found in Oregon

The abandoned vehicle was later discovered in a remote area outside of Juntura, Ore.

Two Clallam County sheriff’s deputies searched the eastern Oregon town for clues and arrested King in Malheur County, Ore., on Nov. 13.

King had been living under a bridge with his dog, Bubba.

He was transported by the deputies nearly 600 miles to the Clallam County jail.

King’s family told authorities they would retrieve the pit bull-German shepherd mix from a Malheur County pound.

More in News

Caro Tchannie and her daughter Lola Hatch, 9, of Tulallip try a long string of beads at Squatchcon on Thursday at the Vern Burton Community Center gym in Port Angeles. Kevin VanDinter of Port Angeles was one of 60 vendors at the four day event, which continues through Sunday. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Squatchcon underway

Caro Tchannie and her daughter Lola Hatch, 9, of Tulallip try a… Continue reading

Capital budgets include Peninsula

Millions in state funds earmarked

Mike Chapman.
Chapman asks not to employ legislative privilege

State senator removes an exemption to Public Records Act

Port of Port Townsend considering Short’s Farm access

Commissioners aim to balance public, agricultural use

Jefferson library director to start new job May 19

Meet-and-greet event scheduled for May 22

Man taken to hospital after car hits tree

A man was transported to a hospital after a single-car… Continue reading

Bypass roads to be installed at two fish passage sites

Contractors will begin construction of one-lane bypass roads at two… Continue reading

Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Stew Cockburn stands in the spring annual section prior to it being for early spring gardeners.
New Dungeness Nursery planted in landscaping industry

Family and their employees work 2-acre location in Sequim

Partnership discussion may violate state law

OMC in Phase 2 of exploratory process

Members of the public take a guided tour at Port Townsend High School on Wednesday. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Port Townsend school district may seek $90M bond

Tour highlights high school’s infrastructure needs

A pair of wind surfers take off from the breakwater at Port Townsend Marina in an apparent race across the bay on Tuesday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Catching the wind

A pair of wind surfers take off from the breakwater at Port… Continue reading