Alleged assailant rebuked by judge for contacting victim

Prosecutors say violations of court order continue to stack up

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The Port Townsend man accused of trying to murder his wife continues to try to contact her despite court orders preventing any contact, prosecutors said last week.

John Lewis Allen, 50, was arrested for allegedly stabbing his wife, 42, in an early morning attack in an RV south of Port Townsend last month.

During a court hearing Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tuppence Macintyre said Allen stopped to talk to the victim after he was escorted out of court during an appearance the week before. Macintyre said he has also sent letters and made phone calls in violation of court orders.

Macintyre said Allen saw the victim outside the courtroom doors and started talking to her.

Allen has also written letters to his mother, which were also forbidden by an earlier court order.

Judge Brandon Mack had previously ordered that Allen, who remains incarcerated in the county jail on $500,000 bail, only have contact with his attorney. The prohibition came after Allen tried to communicate with the victim through his mother and other family members. Court records have documented at least 26 text messages sent by Allen to others.

During Friday’s hearing, Macintyre said Allen had attempted to send multiple letters while at the jail, then tried again to mail a letter after he had been brought to the county courthouse in Port Townsend for a hearing.

Macintyre said Allen had been trying to call the victim from the county jail.

Somehow Allen had gained access to a phone in the jail, a problem that has since been fixed, and called the victim three times.

The victim did not pick up on two of the calls, but did on the third, Macintyre said.

“He made three attempts and succeeded once,” she said.

Macintyre said the violations of the court order could add points to Allen’s offender score, which could increase his potential sentence.

Prosecutors weren’t trying to get a longer sentence, she added, but instead were trying to get Allen to comply with court orders that banned any contact with the victim.

Allen apparently thinks he doesn’t have to comply with those orders, Macintyre said.

Superior Court Judge Brandon Mack said Allen’s actions were highly concerning to the court, and Mack added that it was “a little baffling” that Allen was continuing his attempts to contact the victim in the case.

“Mr. Allen, in no uncertain terms has the court ordered you to have no contact,” Mack said.

He warned Allen that such attempts could result in new charges or be factors to consider during sentencing if Allen is found guilty.

Allen has been charged with first-degree assault. The trial has been set for May 1 and is expected to take at least two weeks.

Authorities have said Allen may have stabbed his wife as many as 28 times during the attack Feb. 19.

Prosecutors alleged he stabbed his wife, 42, in the chest, neck, abdomen, and left leg after an argument that alarmed his neighbors on Pelican Place south of Port Townsend.

Neighbors said they saw Allen and a woman arguing outside a motorhome, and a witness allegedly saw Allen hitting the woman.

When a friend of a neighbor tried to stop the assault, Allen allegedly said something along the lines of “I will blow your head off!” and pulled the woman into the motorhome, where the assault continued.

Police and deputies called to the scene found Allen barricaded inside the RV, according to court papers. Deputies forced their way inside, where they found Allen and a woman  on the floor with serious stabbing injuries.

Prosecutors said Allen has repeatedly tried to use others to contact his wife since he was booked into jail, despite a court order in Clallam County against any contact with the woman, whom Allen has been arrested for repeatedly assaulting over the past year, as well as one signed by a judge following his February arrest.