New trial date to be set in beating death of Salt Creek RV Park woman
Published 12:01 am Saturday, December 20, 2014
PORT ANGELES — Ari Lee King’s murder trial, originally set for Jan. 5, will be rescheduled next month.
The 41-year-old Sequim man is charged with second-degree murder in the September beating death of Diane Cunningham.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg and defense attorney Loren Oakley moved for a continuance in a Friday court hearing.
Troberg said the results of evidence tests are pending.
Trial continued
Superior Court Judge George L. Wood found cause to continue the trial.
King’s new trial date will be set Jan. 6.
If found guilty, King could be sentenced to life in prison.
He is being held in the county jail on $1 million bail.
Cunningham, 65, was found beaten to death in the bedroom of her Salt Creek RV Park mobile home Oct. 6.
X-rays showed that she died of major skull fractures caused by blunt force trauma, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Detective Sgt. John Keegan of the county Sheriff’s Office.
Also in the police statement:
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.
Video surveillance
A state Department of Transportation video shows King driving her 1999 Audi without her in it later that day.
A receipt for the Seattle-Bainbridge ferry was found in her abandoned car in a remote area outside of Juntura, Ore., near the Idaho border.
In addition to the car, Cunningham’s lockbox containing her coin collection was missing from her residence.
Clallam County authorities found King under a bridge in Eastern Oregon and arrested him Nov. 13.
Juntura residents told Clallam County investigators that King had been in the area for about a month and had paid for food with packaged coins and $100 bills.
