Blum trial moved to October

    The trial of Washington resident James Dean Blum, 70, has been moved to Oct. 5 at 9:30 a.m. in the Washington County Courthouse. It was originally scheduled for Aug. 24. Blum?s pretrial is set for Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. and the hearing on pending motions is now Aug. 23 at 2 p.m.

    James Blum is charged with the second-degree murder of his wife Patricia Blum, who was found unresponsive in the couple?s home at 1009 East Washington Street on Jan. 11. Patricia Blum was later taken to the Washington County Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Blum is being held in the Washington County jail on a $100,000 bond.

    According to a press release from the Washington County Communications Center, James Blum called the dispatch center on the afternoon of Jan. 11 and stated that he had possibly killed his wife. Court documents indicate that during an interview, James Blum admitted to killing his wife by smothering her after she had backed a car into the garage door. According to the documents, Blum said that he had meant to kill Patricia Blum and had held her face-down on the couch for two to three minutes until she stopped breathing. He said the couple had been having disagreements for several weeks.

For more, see our July 28 print edition.