Unprecedented seven murder cases going on in southeast Idaho

POCATELLO – There are currently seven murder cases pending in southeast Idaho – five are being tried in Bannock County and two are being prosecuted at the federal level. In one of those cases the victim’s body was never recovered.

Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog said staffing and funding the ongoing murder cases presents challenges for his office and the county.

“Homicide cases obviously involve a lot more work than other types of cases,” Herzog said. “The additional demand on our office’s resources is being met by involving all our staff, not just senior staff, in the management of these cases.”

Herzog said assuming that one or more murder cases can be resolved in the next few months, and as long as no more homicides occur in Bannock County during that time, he does not anticipate additional prosecutors being appointed to staff the pending murder cases.

Two of the forthcoming murder trials in Bannock County are cold cases.

Cold Cases

Martin Edmo Ish

Martin Edmo Ish, was arrested in June 2015 and charged with first degree murder in the beating death of Eugene Lorne Red Elk in 2009.

On June 14, 2009, Red Elk was found severely beaten outside Duffy’s Tavern on Main Street in Pocatello, he was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where he died three days later.

During the preliminary hearing last November, Ish’s cousin, Jennifer Teton, testified that Ish confessed to her that he had attacked Red Elk, who worked as a bouncer at the bar – Red Elk had ejected Ish from the bar prior to the attack, according to witness testimony.

Ish has been incarcerated at the Bannock County Jail since his arrest in June of 2015. Bond in the case was set at $1 million and this week, Public Defender Randy Schulthies, who represents Ish in the murder case, asked the court to reduce that bond to $50,000.

The case is set for trial on Jan. 4, 2017.

Brad Scott Compher

In the second cold case, Brad Scott Compher, also known as Ralph Roy Compher – he legally changed his name in 2008 – was arrested in September 2015 for the murder of Nori Jones who was stabbed to death in her Pole Line Road home in 2004.

The murder was featured on the TNT crime series “Cold Justice” and a crew from California-based Magic Elves Production worked with Pocatello police to speed up DNA processing in the case.

Following Compher’s preliminary hearing, Herzog said that case could end up costing tax payers $500,000.

Herzog said salaried state police experts do not charge the county to testify, but he said the cost of getting expert witnesses from private labs to court could end up costing the county $10,000 to $20,000 each, as well as the cost of transportation and expenses.

Those costs are being paid from a reserve fund set aside by the Bannock County Commission, Herzog said. The defense might also incur costs for outside experts, but Herzog said his office is not privy to that information.

Compher will go to trial on Jan.30, 2017.

Herzog said cold cases present particular obstacles for prosecutors.

“Investigators and witnesses may retire, move away, die, or have difficulty remembering details and evidence may be misplaced or inadvertently destroyed,” Herzog said. “Technological changes in crime investigation techniques, such as DNA, can also alter the character of a case.”

Recent murder cases

Five additional suspects have been charged in unrelated murder cases since May and three of those are also being tried in Bannock County.

Michael Angelo Miera

Michael Angelo Miera, 26, was charged with first first-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of 36-year-old Brandon James Lenker of Pocatello.

Miera’s first cousin and girlfriend, Janeal Miera, 19, is charged with being a principal to murder in that case. Herzog said a charge of principal to murder carries the same penalty as first degree murder.

Lenker’s body was found on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in northern Bannock County on May 26, he was shot twice in the head.

The victim was a suspect in the theft of a stolen vehicle on April 27, in Pocatello, the vehicle turned up partially submerged in the Portneuf River on May 5 and evidence inside the SUV led investigators to believe Lenker’s disappearance was suspicious.

Michael and Janeal Miera were arrested May 6, following a police pursuit that crossed onto the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and ended when Bannock County Sheriff’s deputies performed a PIT maneuver causing Michael to crash the pick-up truck he was driving. Janeal Miera was a passenger in the vehicle.

Evidence collected from the truck, led police to question the pair in connection to Lenker’s disappearance and death.

A preliminary hearing for Janeal Miera is set for Tuesday and Michael Miera will be in court on Nov. 3 for preliminary proceedings. Both suspects remain incarcerated, bond was set at $1 million in Michael’s case and Janeal is being held on a $250,000 bond.

Herzog said he has not ruled out seeking the death penalty in that case.

Timothy Blaney

On May 25, Timothy Blaney was arrested and charged with beating 22-year-old Skylar T. Huffield to death inside a Pocatello residence.

According to police reports, Blaney, who is charged with first degree murder, entered a home at 3942 Hawthorne Road where Diana Shaeffer and Huffield were sleeping. Shaeffer awoke and found Blaney standing in the bedroom and he began beating the victim in the head with a two-by-four.

Shaeffer and Blaney have a child together.

A competency evaluation was ordered in that case and the preliminary hearing has not yet been rescheduled.

Kristina May Juarez

In July, Kristina May Juarez, 42, was charged with second degree murder in the stabbing death of her brother, 32-year-old Ronald Michael Christensen, at his Pocatello residence.

During a preliminary hearing in August, witnesses testified that Christensen was stabbed following an altercation between him, the defendant and her boyfriend at a residence on Jefferson Street.

Christensen sustained a single stab wound that penetrated his back and perforated his lung.

Juarez is set to go to trial on Jan. 10, 2017.

Anthony Ish

In federal court, Anthony Ish, the son of Martin Ish, was indicted in September 2015 and charged with second degree murder in the shooting of 44-year-old Darrell Auck.

Both men are enrolled members of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes and in spite of a $10,000 reward offered by the Fort Hall Business Council and multiple organized searches, Auck’s body has not been recovered.

However, witnesses reported that Ish shot Auck at a residence in Fort Hall and police found evidence of a shooting at the scene.

Anthony Ish is set to go to trial in federal court in Pocatello on Feb. 7, 2017. He is being held in the Bannock County Jail, the same facility where his father, Martin Ish, is incarcerated while awaiting his own murder trial.

Demetrius Gomez

Also pending in U.S. District Court in Pocatello is the murder trial of Demetrius Gomez of Fort Hall.

Gomez, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in the May 9, shooting death of Tyrone Diaz.

According to police reports, Gomez is accused of shooting Diaz with a shotgun inside a mobile home in Fort Hall.

A witness reported hearing Gomez threaten to shoot Diaz and then she heard the shotgun blast.

Gomez then allegedly directed her to drive her truck to the east side of the house. But instead, the witness drove to a relative’s house and they reported the shooting.

Police found the residence empty and after breaching the door officers followed a blood trail from the trailer house to a shed where Diaz’s body was found rolled up inside of a rug.

Gomez is set to stand trial for the killing on Dec. 12.

Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said the recent rash of homicides is unprecedented during his 20-year tenure in Bannock County.
“Unfortunately, violence is on the rise, even in Southeast Idaho,” Nielsen said. “Each case is different and there doesn’t appear to be a common thread.”

According to Idaho State Police crime statistics, there were 30 homicides in Idaho in 2015, that number remained unchanged from 2014.