2001 murder case to go on

A judge Friday refused to dismiss murder charges against a man accused of killing four people in a Des Moines home seven years ago despite the defense argument that the court had no authority to order treatment for the defendant, who has been found incompetent to stand trial.

Leemah Carneh was recharged in October with four counts of aggravated murder in the March 8, 2001, deaths of Richard and Leola Larson, their grandson Taelor Marks and his girlfriend, Josie Peterson. Police said the slayings were spurred by jealousy.

Carneh was charged in the slayings, but charges were dropped when he was found incompetent to stand trial in 2006 and sent to Western State Hospital for civil commitment. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.

Then, in October, the King County Prosecutor's Office was notified that Carneh had shown improvement at Western and he was charged again. Soon after, Western State doctors found him mentally incompetent to stand trial, but told the court that further attempts at treatments that might restore Carneh's competency were warranted.

Carneh is being held at Western under civil commitment, and would remain there if he wasn't facing new murder charges.

Defense attorney Louis Frantz argued Friday that the court had already exhausted the 360 days of competency restoration allowed under the law and should dismiss the charges because it could not legally order more treatment.

But Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Roger Davidheiser argued that because his office had filed a new case, the 360-day clock had begun anew. King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson agreed. The two sides will return to court next Friday to determine a schedule for doctors to attempt to restore Carneh's competency.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com