Judge Orders Two-Month Delay In Triple-Murder Trial Teenager Barry Loukaitis Waives Right To Speedy Trial

A judge on Monday ordered a two-month delay in the triple murder trial of Barry Loukaitis after the teenager indicated he would waive his right to a speedy trial.

Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper ruled that the trial, which had been scheduled to start Tuesday, will be pushed back to Feb. 4 so Loukaitis’ defense lawyer can have more time to prepare and another lawyer can be appointed to assist him.

The new date is a year and two days after the Feb. 2, 1996, shooting attack in which the 15-year-old is charged.

Loukaitis faces three counts of aggravated first-degree murder and additional counts of first-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault and kidnapping. He will be tried as an adult.

Loukaitis is accused of entering his math class at Frontier Junior High School in Moses Lake and killing teacher Leona Caires and students Manuel Vela and Arnie Fritz with a rifle. He is charged with wounding student Natalie Hintz, and holding 15 students and teacher Jon Lane hostage.

He has confessed to the killings but pleaded innocent by reason of insanity.

Public defender Guillermo Romero asked Cooper last week for a postponement and a second lawyer. The judge said he would grant the requests if Loukaitis waived his right to a speedy trial.

Loukaitis refused to sign the waiver unless he knew specifically who the second lawyer would be. He also disparaged the public defender, saying he had not done a good job.

But in a letter faxed Friday to Cooper, Loukaitis changed his mind, saying he would waive his right to a speedy trial. It was signed by Loukaitis and his father, Terry. The letter did not contain Romero’s signature.

Cooper did not mention the letter in his written ruling delaying the trial.

The judge said he had reviewed his decision last week to deny Romero’s request for a postponement and decided that the request was “very legitimate.”

Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell said Monday night he planned to file an emergency motion to move the trial date up. He said he did not consider Loukaitis’ letter a legally binding document. Therefore, Loukaitis has yet to formally waive his speedy trial right, Knodell said.

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