Court orders new restrictions on man accused in stabbing attack

Prosecutors allege defendant tried to contact victim in case

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The Port Townsend man accused of stabbing his wife was ordered to have no contact with anyone other than his attorney Friday after prosecutors said he had repeatedly tried to send messages to his wife from the county jail in Port Hadlock.

John Lewis Allen, 50, was arrested for allegedly attacking his wife, 42, in an early morning assault in a mobile home south of Port Townsend Feb. 19. 

Allen has been charged with first-degree assault, a felony, and pleaded not guilty during his arraignment last month. He remains in custody in Jefferson County Jail on $500,000 bail 

At a hearing Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court, prosecutors said Allen had repeatedly tried to contact the victim of the alleged assault following his arrest, despite a previous court order that forbid any communication with his wife.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tuppence Macintyre said Allen had 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.

Macintyre told Judge Brandon Mack that Allen has an existing no-contact order from an assault against the woman from December 2022, in addition to the no-contact order that was put in place following Allen’s arrest last month.

But Allen, Macintyre said, still feels he can defy the court orders.

Macintyre also noted the messages that he had tried to send, and how they fit the pattern of an abuser displaying remorse after an assault.

“‘I love you, I love you.’ That’s exactly what we see here,” Macintyre said.

Court documents detail how Allen used the jail’s texting system for inmates, called “chirping,” to send messages to his son and others in attempts to contact the alleged stabbing victim.

In late February and continuing through March 8, Allen started sending chirps asking others to contact his wife with messages.

In a Feb. 27 chirp to his son, Allen wrote: “And stop sounding like the dove house im not controling her shes my wife...[sic].”

In a March 4 chirp to his son, also sent from his cell in F-block at the jail, Allen wrote: “Im not one to talk i dont mimd going to jail if its for somthing worth wile and yes you will see what im talking about before this is all overwith [sic].”

Court records document a total of 26 text messages sent by Allen to others.

Prosecutors also said he sent a birthday card to the victim, with a letter that had been addressed to Allen’s mother in Port Townsend. Prosecutors allege the birthday message in the card contained phrases such as “To my forever,” “I love you,” “Your my everything [sic],” and “xoxo.”

“The birthday card doesn’t appear to be intended for his mother,” a deputy wrote in a probable cause report that described Allen’s attempted contacts from jail.

Court records show the victim in the assault case has a birthday on March 16.

During the court hearing, Macintyre noted the assault victim had been taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment of very serious injuries, and had only been released days before the hearing. 

The woman had been in the hospital’s intensive care unit for quite a long time, Macintyre said.

Macintyre also said the victim had been stabbed more than a dozen times.

“This is a very serious domestic violence assault,” she said.

An earlier court report described the woman’s alleged injuries, and noted six significant wounds.

Overall, the list was long: “(Two) deep lacerations to the left upper chest, appearing to have punctured one of her lung cavities. A deep laceration to the neck area. Multiple lacerations to the upper left shoulder. Puncture to the lower left abdomen area. (Two) deep lacerations to the back of the left leg near the knee. Apparent defensive wounds to the forearms.”

The probable cause report that detailed those injuries also described bruising around the woman’s eyes, “with an apparent blunt force injury to the forehead area.”

During Friday’s court hearing, Macintyre asked for a court order that would prevent Allen from contacting anyone outside of jail, with the exception of his attorney.

The violations of the earlier no-contact order were flagrant, she added.

Lillian Powers, the public defender representing Allen, said her client’s communications from the jail were already being monitored by staff at the facility.

She asked the judge to allow the jail to use its own policies in restricting the communications of inmates, and that the court should not intercede.

Powers called the prosecution’s request for restricting Allen’s ability to send messages to others “novel.”

She also added that she had never seen the court approve such a request in the past, and called the request “a step too far.”

Mack, however, agreed with the prosecution’s request and ordered that Allen have no communication with anyone outside the jail except for his attorney.

Allen, who was attending the court hearing on video from the jail, expressed disbelief at the ruling and shook his head repeatedly.

“I can’t call my mom?” Allen asked.