Judge Orders Suspect To Stay Away From Wife Family Relieved That Man Won’t Be Able To Visit Victim

The daughters and ex-wife of a man accused of nearly beating his wife to death on Lake Coeur d’Alene expressed relief that he won’t be allowed near her.

The attorney for James Gordon Loss, 46, asked the court Thursday to lift a no-contact order preventing him from visiting his current wife, Jerrene Loss, 49, who has been in the hospital for almost two weeks.

But Judge Paul McCabe declined after hearing Deputy Prosecutor Rick Baughman describe Jerrene Loss as slipping in and out of consciousness when he visited her Thursday morning.

James Loss, wearing jeans, a white sports shirt and cowboy boots, left the courtroom stone-faced with supporters. His arraignment is scheduled for July 10.

His two daughters and former wife were thankful for the judge’s decision after Thursday’s court appearance, where Loss waived his rights to a preliminary hearing.

“Nobody, not even an animal, deserves to be beat the way she was beat,” said Caroline Weldon of Deer Park, who was married to James Loss from 1967 to 1976.

Weldon and her daughters claimed they were abused by Loss.

“He needs to be put away,” said Cindy Loss, his 22-year-old daughter. When she was 13, she said, Loss beat her with a stick, turning her entire backside black and blue.

The three women said they want to make sure Loss is prosecuted and Jerrene Loss is protected. They fear if he has access to her, he will “sweet talk” her into coming back to him, they said.

“I know where she’s at,” Weldon said. “As long as Jim has any contact with her…”

“She’ll never think for herself,” Cindy Loss said, finishing her mother’s sentence.

The Spokane Valley couple was found in a drifting boat in Mica Bay June 14 after deputies responded to an 11:10 p.m. call for help heard over a marine radio frequency.

The boat had no navigation lights, but marine deputies were able to locate it with surface radar within an hour.

“All they had was someone calling for help in the middle of the lake,” Baughman said.

Deputies found James Loss sitting in a chair on the deck with a bloody towel nearby. He told deputies his wife was sleeping, but they discovered her collapsed in the main cabin with severe injuries to her head and arm, according to the sheriff’s department.

Before losing consciousness, she told deputies they had been arguing over money. Alcohol was involved, deputies reported.

Jerrene Loss was taken to Kootenai Medical Center, where she underwent neurosurgery to relieve the swelling and bleeding of her brain.

A doctor told investigators that had she been found a half-hour later she would have died. Cindy Loss said Jerrene Loss’ heart stopped twice, and she suffered brain damage.

She was scheduled to be moved to St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Center on Thursday. “Her recovery is going to be a long process,” Cindy Loss said.

James Loss was held in the Kootenai County jail on a charge of aggravated battery and a $100,000 bond. Loss made bail within a few hours of being arrested, according to sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger.

He said the Sheriff’s Department initially sought the no-contact order out of concern that Loss might kill his wife.

, DataTimes