Sequim murder trial still set to begin Jan. 26

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Multiple Sequim cases had updates in Clallam County Superior Court last week that are pending trial and/or other resolutions.

On Jan. 9, Judge Brent Basden said there were 20 trials tentatively scheduled for the same day (Jan. 26) and he recommended attorneys begin determining what will be immediately scheduled.

Murder trial to begin end of month

The five-day trial for Aaron C. Fisher, 37, of Port Townsend remains scheduled to begin on Monday, Jan. 26 in the Clallam County Courthouse.

He’s been charged with the second degree murder of Richard G. Madeo, 70, after allegedly punching him in the face on May 6 last year, knocking him unconscious in the driveway near the Safeway fuel station.

Madeo died two days later at Harborview Medical Center, court documents state.

Fisher’s attorney Lane Wolfley said on Jan. 9 he’s optimistic about starting the trial on time, but he’s having a difficult time interviewing some witnesses that refuse to be interviewed, and one of their main witnesses, a transient, has not been able to be contacted.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Michele Devlin said they have not received confirmation that the witness had been subpoenaed to the court. She questioned if Wolfley would be ready as he had allegedly not responded to her emails and had not supplied a witness list to the court.

When asked by Judge Brent Basden if he would be ready, Wolfley said he has a few things he must do and that they’ve “used every available means” to contact the unavailable witness.

“It’d be hard for us to go to trial without (them),” he said.

Basden said they would keep the Jan. 26 court date with pretrial motions set for 9 a.m. Jan. 21.

Wolfley filed on Jan. 8 to suppress comments Fisher made to police about the incident as he allegedly didn’t have his Miranda rights read to him.

A second case where Fisher allegedly communicated with a minor for immoral purposes continues to trail the second degree murder case. He previously pleaded not guilty to the second degree murder charge, and one count each of possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first and second degree.

New trial date to be set for bank robbery case

The trial date for Dale Allen Jaff, 58, who is accused of robbing Sequim’s Kitsap Bank on April 9 last year, will be reset in late January.

Basden agreed on Jan. 9 to strike a Jan. 26 start date for the eight-day trial at the request of Jaff’s defense attorney, Alex Stalker, who said he wouldn’t be ready as he had not heard back from an expert he intends to use in the case.

The trial reset hearing is now set for 1 p.m. Jan. 30.

Clallam County deputy prosecutor Steven Johnson also asked and received permission from Basden for DNA testing of a note Jaff allegedly gave to a bank teller during the incident.

Jaff, of Port Hadlock, pleaded not guilty in mid-May to felony charges of robbery in the first degree, theft in the second degree, and assault in the second degree.

Defense asks to dismiss former officer’s case

Defense attorney Karen Unger said in court on Jan. 9 that she has filed a motion to dismiss the case of her client, Christian J. Whitaker, 28, a former Sequim police officer.

Whitaker faces felony charges for rape and voyeurism incidents that allegedly occurred in July 2024 in Jefferson County.

Unger said her motion follows discovery violations related to the case. Related documents were not available by press time.

Chris Ashcraft, special deputy prosecuting attorney, said that he had received the motion the night before and didn’t have time to review it.

Judge Simon Barnhart set a schedule that gives Ashcraft until Jan. 30 to respond to Unger’s motion and gives Unger until Feb. 18 to respond to him. They’ll have a hearing at 9 a.m. Feb. 24.

Whitaker’s four-day trial was previously set to begin on Jan. 12 in Clallam County Superior Court.

He was booked and released on Sept. 5 last year with no bond set. Whitaker tentatively faces charges for rape in the second degree; voyeurism in the first degree; and disclosing intimate images.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office’s probable cause statement, a woman reportedly in a relationship with Whitaker told officer Alan Jorgensen on July 16, 2025 that on July 1, 2024 she was drugged and sexually assaulted in Whitaker’s residence.

According to the City of Sequim, Whitaker worked in the Sequim Police Department from June 16, 2022-Aug. 27,2025 and he was immediately placed on administrative leave when the allegations were made.