Alleged Jewish Federation shooter heads to trial in October

The man accused of killing one woman and wounding five others at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle won't face a second trial until more than three years after the shootings.

Naveed Haq's first trial ended in a mistrial in June, after jurors said they were deadlocked on 14 of 15 criminal counts. He was scheduled to be retried in March, but on Wednesday King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas agreed to delay opening statements until Oct. 19 upon request by Haq's defense team.

"It is a very unfortunate delay," Kallas said.

Haq, 33, is charged with one count of aggravated first-degree murder for the death of employee Pamela Waechter; five counts of attempted first-degree murder; one count of first-degree kidnapping; one count of unlawful imprisonment; one count of first-degree burglary; and six counts of violating the state's hate-crime law.

Haq, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, is not facing the death penalty.

In court Wednesday, defense attorney John Carpenter attributed the trial delay to the recent addition of a new public defender to the case. Defense attorney Christopher Swaby is replacing C. Wesley Richards, who left the case to represent Isaac Zamora, who is accused of killing six people in a Sept. 2 shooting spree in Skagit County.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz told Kallas that he did not object to the trial delay because his office needs time to analyze the transcripts of hundreds of phone calls made by Haq since his arrest.

Raz added that prosecutors also need the delay because a crucial witness will be out of town all summer.

Haq is accused of forcing his way into the Belltown offices of the federation on July 28, 2006. According to charges, he carried two guns and spewed anti-Semitic statements as he made his way through the offices, randomly shooting those he encountered while people screamed and tried to escape, some jumping out of windows or hiding inside.

During Haq's first trial prosecutors painted him as a frustrated and awkward man who decided that he wanted to die in a "suicide-by-cop" scenario. Defense attorneys said the Tri-Cities man suffered an abusive childhood and increasingly paranoid teenage and college years.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Information from Seattle Times archives and news researcher Gene Balk is included in this report