36°

People who run boxing competitions in Southeast Alaska remember the man now accused of killing Maggie Wigen last year was someone who didn't stay with the sport.

"He was someone brought in off the streets," said Jamiann Stevens, owner of Stevens Promotions in Juneau. "He didn't have a lot of skill."

Appearing in court Friday on felony charges including first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault, Harmon, 25, had his attorney fighting for him to have a chance to face his accusers. He also had his parents in his corner.

Leaving court Friday, his mother, Janice Jackson, said her son was innocent.

"We raised a kind and gentle young man," she said before walking away from reporters. "That's who you saw in the courtroom."

Harmon graduated from Ketchikan High School in the late 1990s, someone who grew up with him recalled. Ketchikan resident Tyson Duckworth said he was a couple of years behind Harmon in school.

He said he remembered Harmon, who played on the basketball team, as "a total athlete." Court records list him as 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 230 pounds.

Duckworth's father, Ketchikan Fight Club President Jack Duckworth, said he was sorry to hear Harmon had been charged.

"I've never known James to do anything violent," he said.

He said that on a couple of occasions, he saw that Harmon had a difficult time going through with competition. He recalled taking him to Prince Rupert in a tae kwon do competition where he couldn't perform.

He also remembered Harmon as someone who had a hard time making friends - "a loner, a drifter."

Stevens said Harmon never fought for her group, but she remembers him as someone who "kept to himself. He seemed polite enough."

Jack Duckworth said he sent Harmon a ticket so he could box in Ketchikan in January. Harmon used the ticket to get to Ketchikan, but he didn't show up for the match. Harmon stayed in Ketchikan a couple of months, though, living in an abandoned family house, he said.

Juneau District Attorney Patrick Gullufsen said in court Friday that Harmon was unemployed. In the affidavit he filed to justify the charges, he stated that Harmon returned to Juneau from Ketchikan in late February.

Harmon, who had family in Tenakee Springs, was living there until he went into the U.S. Army in February 2003. He left for basic training in Fort Benning, Ga., but returned to Tenakee Springs in mid-March.

• Tony Carroll can be reached at tony.carroll@juneauempire.com.