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Trial set in bludgeoning case

David Cole | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 2 months AGO
by David Cole
| August 27, 2011 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - Criminal proceedings have resumed against a 32-year-old North Idaho man accused of attacking a family in their Bayview home with a claw hammer in December, Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said Friday.

This spring, a judge suspended the proceedings against Larry W. Cragun after he was found to be mentally ill.

Now, a trial date of Oct. 3 has been set before 1st District Court Judge Benjamin Simpson. Lawyers expect the trial to last a couple weeks.

Cragun stands accused of attacking four people with a large hammer and knife in a trailer home next door to his overlooking Lake Pend Oreille. One woman was killed in the attack.

He is charged with several felonies related to the attack, including first-degree murder for the death of 43-year-old Patricia Heath.

Heath's mother-in-law suffered serious head injuries, while two other family members received less serious wounds.

Cragun was indicted by a grand jury in January, and he has pleaded not guilty.

He is being held at the Kootenai County jail.

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