By Brenda Starkey
Chronicle correspondent

     Cory J. Monaghan, 35, Ravensdale, last week waived his rights to a speedy trial, and his trial on first-degree murder and arson charges was set for May 13 in Ferry County Superior Court.
     Monaghan is accused of killing Jeremy Karavias, 19, Kent, and burning the Malo mobile home of his uncle, Ron Wessel, Oct. 22.
     Monaghan is being held on $1.5 million bail in Ferry County jail.
     In a pre-trial hearing Dec. 29, the trial date was rescheduled and several motions by defense and prosecuting attorneys were heard.
     Ferry County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker denied a defense request for contact jail visits between Monaghan and his girlfriend and son.
     "That would open the flood gate for every other inmate" at the Ferry County Jail, Baker said. "It's not a precedent I'm willing to set."
     Such a move might breach security at the jail and would require extra personnel, she pointed out.
     "This is just something I would have to deny," she said.
     Prosecutors asked to get certain information set by state law from Monaghan's medical records in Ferry County and at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
     Although the judge agreed that medical records contain private information protected by doctor-patient privilege, she agreed to allow prosecutors to see the basic information outlined by state law.
     The prosecution also requested access to text messages Monaghan sent on his cell phone during his hospitalization.
     Baker told the prosecution that the state would have to request a search warrant for those messages to establish probable cause that there is information of criminal activity in the messages.
     A telephonic omnibus hearing was scheduled for Feb. 23 with a status hearing at 1 p.m. May 8. June 12 was set as the new speedy trial date in the case.