Bail set at $1 million for woman accused of attempted murder

PORT ANGELES — Bail was set at $1 million last week for a Sequim woman accused of trying to kill a neighbor she was dating at the Sunbelt Apartments.

Larisa Jean Dietz, 48, was arrested Tuesday for investigation of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault with domestic violence for allegedly stabbing 58-year-old Ricky Lynn McGowan with a knife.

McGowan was listed in satisfactory condition Saturday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, hospital personnel said.

Judge Brian Coughenour of the Clallam County Superior Court set Dietz’s bail at $1 million Thursday as requested by Michele Devlin, chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney.

The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will consider filing formal charges against Dietz at her next court appearance at 1 p.m. Monday.

Sequim police detective Devin McBride said the alleged assault occurred at the apartments at 505 S. Fifth Ave. at about 7:21 p.m. Tuesday.

Clallam County Fire District No. 3 personnel forced the door open and found McGowan laying on his side in a “very large pool of blood, clots and fatty tissue,” McBride said in the affidavit for probable cause.

A woman identified as Dietz was lying behind McGowan with her armed wrapped around McGowan’s neck and upper torso; she was “trying to jam her hand in his mouth,” McBride said in court papers.

Casey Sires of Fire District 3 moved Dietz off the man and found a bloody knife under Dietz’s arm, McBride said.

Dietz told police that she had been stabbed. Sires found no evidence of an injury on Dietz that required treatment, McBride said in the affidavit.

Jack Hueter of Fire District No. 3 moved the alleged victim into the hallway and found two deep tissue wounds on both sides of McGowan’s neck.

McGowan told an officer that he “opened the door and she attacked me with a knife.”

“She needs to go to jail,” McGowan told police.

McGowan was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.

On Friday, he was transferred from intensive care to an acute care floor, according to an email from hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg.

McBride said he found an upside-down cross and the word “DIE” painted on the exterior of McGowan’s apartment, according to the arrest narrative.

An apartment manager said the paint appeared about six week prior after McGowan and the woman had begun a romantic/sexual relationship, court papers said.

Dietz had previously been arrested July 12 for allegedly assaulting another boyfriend and biting an officer, McBride said.

On Sept. 21, Dietz told police that McGowan had exposed himself to her and sexually assaulted her.

“Dietz also reported that Ricky used ‘gangster violence’ on her,” McBride said in the affidavit.

“Later in the call to dispatch Dietz says McGowan did not physically touch her.”

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.