EVERETT — A Gold Bar-area man was arrested Saturday after allegedly shooting his wife.
The 79-year-old woman was hit by two bullets, prosecutors said.
Bail was set at $500,000 Monday in Everett District Court. Thomas Giles, 68, is being held for investigation of first-degree domestic-violence assault.
“There was nothing domestic about it,” he told the judge, unprompted.
“It’s domestic violence because it involves your wife,” Judge Tam Bui told him.
Giles replied: “Not guilty. Not guilty at all.”
The wife had called 911 about 2:40 a.m. Saturday from their home in the May Creek area. The emergency dispatcher heard five gunshots in the background. The woman said she wanted to try to leave the house but she was getting weak and cold.
When Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found Giles lying on his stomach on the deck. He told them that voices had told him to “prone out” for police.
There were multiple bullet holes inside the main part of the house, along with an assault-style rifle and a semi-automatic pistol, according to court papers. Numerous spent rifle cartridges were on the floor.
Some of the windows appeared to have been blown out by the gunfire.
When deputies attempted to question the wife, she could not hear them. The gunfire had temporarily deafened her, records show. She said she had been sleeping when she started hearing the guns and that she was not sure what all had happened. She said she had last seen her husband sitting in a chair in a second-story loft that overlooks the living room.
Giles reportedly told detectives he had been trying to shoot “assassins that were in the front yard.” Police described him in the arrest report as intoxicated and delusional.
Giles allegedly asked to be taken to the hospital to “detox.” After receiving a medical clearance, he was booked into the Snohomish County Jail.
He appeared before the judge Monday in a wheelchair and used a court-provided hearing device. His lawyer said there was no evidence Giles intended to harm his wife.
Giles was forbidden from possessing firearms while his court case continues. The judge was told that his family has since taken his large collection of weapons into safekeeping.
Bui said she decided on the high bail for the safety of the wife and the general public.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rikkiking.
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