Ted and Karla Lyons were asleep in bed when they were viciously attacked with a roofing nail gun during a home invasion March 11, 2022.
Court records say the suspect, a Bremerton man, now 30, has spent much of the time since then at Western State Hospital, a mental institution in Lakewood. The case did go to trial but on Oct. 23, 2023, a jury could not reach a unanimous verdict so a mistrial was declared.
The man was returned to Western State, but was scheduled to be released Aug. 22. However, he was arrested on a warrant and appeared in Kitsap County Superior Court Aug. 20. Bail was set at $1 million.
Five charges were filed against him, including: suspicion of two counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder (he faces a maximum of life in prison and a $50,000 fine for each); first-degree assault with a deadly weapon (life in prison, $50,000 fine for each); and first-degree burglary (life in prison, $50,000 fine).
Court records say Bremerton police responded to a burglary in the 1500 block of Perry Avenue March 11, 2022 at 1:52 a.m. Lyon told police that he and his wife were sleeping upstairs when they awoke to a man hitting them in the head with a blunt object. Lyon grabbed a gun to defend them, but his wife was in the way so he just fired a warning shot. Lyon and his attacker struggled down the stairway to the kitchen before the suspect ran off. Karla Lyon called 911, but has little memory of what else was going on at the time.
Police arrived, and Lyon told them a man broke into their house, assaulted them and, “They had been robbed.” Police saw large blood drops on the floor and a blood trail on the stairs, including a bloody handprint. Police were about to call for a canine track team when the suspect was found behind a shower curtain in a downstairs bathroom. He was shirtless and had blood from both victims on him, court papers say, adding, his shoes were at the bottom of the stairs as he likely took them off to quietly go up to the bedroom.
Both victims were struck with a tack hammer found next to their bed.
The Lyons were taken to St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale. She was then taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and he to Tacoma General Hospital. Ted Lyon had an open skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. He later said he had a “quarter-sized hunk” of his skull removed and replaced with a metal plate. She had facial injuries, missing teeth and a depressed cheek.
The suspect made a not-guilty plea to the original charges of first-degree burglary and assault, but was found to be incompetent to stand trial so he was civilly committed to Western State. He was scheduled to be released so a warrant was issued for him to be arrested again Aug. 13.
