Ex-Islander David Robert Viens has pleaded not guilty to murder in a Los Angeles County courtroom. He is accused of killing wife Dawn Marie Viens, with whom he operated a business in Bradenton Beach several years ago.
Dawn Viens was 39 when she disappeared in October 2009 from Lomita, Calif. Authorities suspect she is dead, but no remains have been recovered.
In late February, after the discovery of blood in the home the husband and wife shared, David Viens, 47, leaped from a 100-foot cliff.
While hospitalized to recover from his fall from the Rancho Palos Verdes cliff and with the restaurant he ran in Lomita being dug up in the search for remains, David Viens allegedly confessed to killing his wife.
Days later, on March 3, he was formally charged with murder.
On March 28, David Viens was wheeled into a California courtroom on a gurney for his arraignment hearing, during which he pleaded not guilty.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Upinder S. Kalra set the man’s bail at $1 million and the next court date as April 28, when Viens is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing.
Several years ago, the Viens lived in Holmes Beach about 200 feet from Anna Maria Elementary School and operated the Beach City Market in Bradenton Beach.
In 2005, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office led a raid at the market and home, arresting David Viens on suspicion of marijuana possession with intent to sell or distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of opium and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He also was arrested on suspicion of trafficking marijuana.
The local charges soon were dropped because Viens also was facing a federal charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess marijuana. He pleaded guilty to that charge in 2007.
Additionally, in 1993, Viens was convicted in Vermont under a federal narcotics law.