PORT ANGELES — Ari Lee King faces a Jan. 5 trial for second-degree murder in the beating death of a 65-year-old Joyce woman who authorities say had befriended him.
King, 41, of Sequim pleaded not guilty Friday in Clallam County Superior Court to killing Diane Cunningham.
Cunningham’s body was found Oct. 6 under clothing and a broken, bloodied chair in the bedroom of her Salt Creek RV Park mobile home, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Detective Sgt. John Keegan of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
King was found under a bridge and arrested Nov. 13 in a remote part of Malheur County, Ore., before being transported the following day to the Clallam County jail.
He is being held on $1 million bail.
If found guilty, King could be sentenced to life in prison.
Keegan’s affidavit gave the following details surrounding Cunningham’s death and King’s arrest:
The document said X-rays showed that Cunningham died of major skull fractures caused by blunt force trauma.
A chair identical to the one found on Cunningham’s body was found in a truck registered to King at an El Camino Drive address in Sequim.
Several items of drug paraphernalia also were found in King’s RV.
When arrested, King told detectives he had only two things to say, according to Keegan’s affidavit.
“He [King] pointed to one arm and then the other while saying ‘this’ each time he pointed,” Keegan wrote.
“King was pointing to injuries on his arm.
“The injuries were track marks from IV drug usage.”
Cunningham’s body was discovered by her daughter’s boyfriend after the couple went to the Salt Creek RV park.
Cunningham had failed to show up for a scheduled visit and also had not responded to phone calls and text messages.
Her car and a lock box containing her coin collection also were missing.
Witnesses last saw her Sept. 28, the same day a state Department of Transportation video shows King driving her 1999 Audi without her in it.
A receipt for the Seattle-Bainbridge ferry was found in her abandoned car about 12.5 miles from the Juntura, Ore.-area bridge under which King was staying with his dog and where he was arrested.
King, who could not afford gas for his 1973 Dodge pickup truck, according to his sister, was detected on surveillance footage from 7 Cedars Casino, where King’s sister said he and Cunningham would go.
A black hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off was found in King’s RV trailer. It matched a sweatshirt worn by the man in the casino video.
King also was seen with Cunningham at the Port Angeles Walmart, according to surveillance footage.
A friend from Clallam Bay told authorities the last time she saw Cunningham was in Clallam Bay the evening of Sept. 27.
Cunningham arrived in her vehicle with a man named “Airies” who was wearing an eye patch.
Cunningham said she was going to take him to a doctor’s appointment for Sept. 30 eye surgery.
King missed the eye appointment.
A friend of King’s from Enumclaw said King stopped by his house Sept. 27 or 28.
The friend told authorities King “is always dirty and greasy-looking, but this time he was clean and wore clean clothes.”
King’s family had reported him missing before he was arrested.
Residents of Juntura, about 12 miles from where Cunningham’s abandoned vehicle was discovered, said King had been in the area for about a month.
He paid for food with packaged coins and $100 bills.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
