Man charged with attempted murder

An elderly Costa Mesa man was charged with attempted murder Monday after he shot his wife in the head several times inside their home Thursday, prosecutors said.

Kenneth Joseph Leake, 75, faces 60 years to life in prison if convicted of attempted murder with enhancements for using a gun, which adds to his potential sentence. He was also charged with a felony count of injuring an elderly person with a sentencing enhancement for the victim being a dependent more than 70 years old.

Leake’s arraignment was rescheduled Monday for Oct. 16 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. He appeared briefly in court Monday behind an inmates’ cage, with a red face and teary eyes. His defense attorney told him to relax as sobbing family members in the courtroom audience blew him kisses.

On Thursday, police arrested Leake after neighbors reported him outside his house shouting for help in the 2000 block of Orange Street in Costa Mesa. Leake called police while they were en route and said he shot his wife, Sgt. Zack Hoferitza said.

Leake shot his wife, Doris, 72, four times in the head and once in the wrist, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Heidi Garrel. She is doing fine and expected to survive, Garrel said. Authorities have not yet determined if it was supposed to be an attempted murder-suicide, she said.

Leake’s family and defense attorney declined to comment Monday.

— Joseph Serna