Parents say Loukaitis was troubled for at least 2 years

EPHRATA, Wash. -- Barry Loukaitis began having emotional problems after his parents' first separation two years ago, and his condition worsened in the weeks before he shot to death a teacher and two classmates, his parents testified Thursday.

JoAnn Loukaitis testified that in mid-January, just before the Feb. 2 shootings at a Moses Lake junior high, she and her husband filed for divorce and she confided to their son that she was considering suicide.

JoAnn Loukaitis said she was convinced her husband was having an affair. She planned to drive to their Ellensburg restaurant and tie him and his girlfriend to chairs.

"They destroyed my life, and I was going to shoot myself and make them watch," said JoAnn Loukaitis, 47.

"I told Barry all that."

Her son, now 15, sat hunched and silent at the defense table, as he has throughout this hearing to determine if he will be tried in the slayings as an adult. He was 14 when the shootings occurred.

Loukaitis is charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of teacher Leona Caires and classmates Manuel Vela and Arnold Fritz, both 14. He is also charged with assault for wounding classmate Natalie Hintz during the massacre in the ninth-grade math class at Frontier Junior High.

He confessed the shootings to law officers.

The hearing has been under way since Monday before Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper of Ellenburg. Cooper has said he wants to wrap up the proceeding Friday. He did not indicate when he would rule.

Loukaitis' lawyer wants him tried as a juvenile, in which case he would be released from prison at age 21 if convicted.

Prosectors want him tried as an adult. Adults convicted of aggravated first-degree murder face only two penalties: execution or life in prison without possibility of parole. Under state law, Loukaitis cannot face the death penalty because of his age.

Arguments this week have focused almost exclusively on whether Loukaitis was mentally ill at the time of the shootings. His potential for rehabilitation is among the factors Cooper must consider.