As more information is gathered, a seven-day trial may be delayed for James Donald Luoma, a 66-year-old Sequim man accused of attempting to kill his deaf 49-year-old neighbor.
After Luoma pleaded not guilty on May 13 to attempted first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in Clallam County Superior Court, a trial was set for June 27.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Steve Johnson told judge Brent Basden on June 3 he didn’t think that trial date would be realistic.
“There’s still a substantial amount of discovery still coming in for this case,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Sequim Police detectives have nine outstanding search warrants they’re working through and Washington State Patrol’s analysis of the crime scene remains ongoing.
“With all of that coming in, it’s not remotely realistic,” Johnson said of the court date.
Luoma’s defense attorney John Hayden said he’d just received the most recent discovery items earlier in the week and hadn’t gotten a chance to review them yet.
Basden said with Luoma held without bail, his case has a high preference for proceeding and that the dates are important. He set a status hearing for 1:30 p.m. Friday, June 17.
Sequim Police arrested Luoma April 27 in a manufactured home park off Hendrickson Road after he was found with a gun and his neighbor said he tried to kill her, court documents state.
Earlier in the day, the neighbor unsuccessfully sought a protection order against Luoma because she didn’t know his birthday for required documents, police reported.
Luoma allegedly wanted a romantic relationship with her, she told police, and she didn’t reciprocate.
That afternoon, the neighbor saw Luoma pick up a paving stone and go behind her house, court documents state, and when she went outside he aimed a gun at her, fired and missed, leading her to run to her neighbor’s house.
Inside her neighbor’s garage, the 49-year-old neighbor fought with Luoma and his thumb was shot off in the struggle, and he continued to hit her head into the floor and a fridge, police report.
In a later interview, Luoma told people he felt “so much anger” towards the 49-year-old neighbor because he felt betrayed for giving her more than $140,000.
