13 lives lost: A look at east Idaho’s recent murder cases
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East Idaho courts are dealing with a total of 12 murder cases.
In October 2016 an unparalleled seven murder cases were being prosecuted the region, and since that time four addition homicide cases have been filed.
Two of the murder cases resulted in convictions in federal court in Pocatello, five murder trials are still pending in Bannock County, two people are awaiting trial on second-degree murder charges in Bonnevillle County and one of two first degree murder cases in Bingham County was forwarded to the trial court this week.
Bingham County
Melonie Smith
Bingham County Magistrate James Barrett ruled that 48-year-old Melonie Smith of Pingree will stand trial for first-degree murder in the shooting death of David Lee Davis in February.
Davis, 30, was allegedly shot once in each leg by Kevin Day, who is charged with aggravated battery and use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony in the case.
Day testified during Smith’s preliminary hearing Thursday as part of a plea agreement.
However, a forensic expert said Davis died after being shot in the back of the head with a high-powered rifle and during the preliminary hearing, witnesses testified that Smith admitted to firing the fatal shot.
Jesus Adan Castillo
In a separate case in Bingham County, Jesus Adan Castillo, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of 18-month-old Zachary Seth Alxzander Tendoy.
On March 23, Blackfoot police responded to a home on the 1600 block of Camas Street at about 4 a.m. to a report of an unresponsive child.
Zachary was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where died two days later.
Castillo is accused of inflicting the injuries that lead to the toddler’s death.
A preliminary hearing in that case was continued until April 30.
Bonneville County
Jeremy White
Jeremy White, 40, of Idaho Falls is charged with second-degree murder in the strangulation death of his long-time girlfriend, Christine Dawn Caldwell, in November 2016.
According to court reports, Caldwell learned of a six-month-long affair between White and Deena Aday on Nov. 7, 2016. Aday’s husband became aware of the relationship that same day.
Caldwell’s family reported her and White missing and video surveillance obtained from security cameras installed in the home that Caldwell and White shared led police to obtain a search warrant for the property.
During that search Caldwell was found dead and buried in the basement of the two-story farmhouse. Her body was placed in a crude coffin, wrapped in a white cloth and resting in the fetal position on a pad and fleece blanket. The only obvious sign of injury were ligature marks on her neck.
White will stand trial for the killing on July 10.
White and Aday avoided capture for 16 days before they were arrested in Nevada on Nov. 25, 2016.
Aday, 49, is charged as an accessory to a felony in the case and a preliminary hearing is set for April 14.
Justin C. Sarbaum
Justin C. Sarbaum is facing a second-degree murder charge in Bonneville County in connection to the shooting death of 32-year-old Tyson Tew in January.
Tew was shot twice in the back following a fight between him and Sarbaum at an apartment on St. Clair Road.
A preliminary hearing in that case is set for May 12.
Bannock County
In Bannock County, five murder cases are pending, including two cold cases.
Martin Edmo Ish
Martin Edmo Ish, 59, the father of Anthony Ish, is set to stand trial on April 17 for the 2009 murder of Eugene Lorne Red Elk.
Martin Ish was arrested in June 2015 and charged with second-degree murder shortly after he was released by the Idaho Department of Correction for a 2010 drug charge and an enhancement as a persistent violator.
Red Elk was found severely beaten outside Duffy’s Tavern in Pocatello on June 14, 2009. He was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where he died three days later.
Due to media coverage of that case and the federal murder case involving Anthony Ish, a jury will be selected from Twin Falls and brought to Bannock County for the trial.
Brad Scott Compher
Brad Scott Compher, 42, of Pocatello, is charged with first degree murder in the 2004 stabbing death of Nori Jones inside her Pole Road home in Pocatello.
That trial was also delayed and a status conference in that case is set for June 30.
Jones’ 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.
Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog said prosecution in the murder case could cost taxpayers $500,000. That cost is being paid from a reserve fund set aside by the Bannock County Commission.
Michael Angelo Miera
Michael Angelo Miera, 26, is charged with first first-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of 36-year-old Brandon James Lenker of Pocatello. A trial date in that case is set for Oct 31.
Miera’s first cousin and girlfriend, Janeal Miera, 20, is charged with being a principal to murder in that case, that charge carries the same penalty as first degree murder.
Lenker was shot twice in the head. His body was found on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in northern Bannock County on May 26.
Lenker was a suspect in the theft of a stolen vehicle on April 27 in Pocatello.
During a taped interview with detectives, Michael Miera confessed to shooting Lenker twice in the head on May 5, while he and his girlfriend were riding with Lenker in the stolen SUV.
Michael Miera claimed during the interview that he feared for his life and the life of his girlfriend when he shot Lenker.
He threw Lenker’s body over an embankment near Ross Fork Creek, and Michael and Janeal Miera attempted to submerge the stolen SUV in the Portneuf River.
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 that caused Michael Miera to crash the pick-up truck he was driving.
Timothy Blaney
On May 25, 2016, Timothy Blaney, 21, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for allegedly beating 22-year-old Skylar T. Huffield to death inside a Pocatello residence.
According to police reports, Blaney entered a home at 3942 Hawthorne Road where his estranged wife, Diana Shaeffer, and Huffield were sleeping.
Shaeffer awoke and found Blaney standing in the bedroom seconds before he began beating the victim in the head with a two-by-four.
Further proceedings in that case are set for May 19.
Kristina May Juarez
Kristina May Juarez, 42, was charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of her brother, 32-year-old Ronald Michael Christensen on July 21, 2016. A trial in that case is set for June 13.
During a preliminary hearing in August 2016, witnesses testified that Christensen was stabbed during a fight 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.
Teton County
Erik Ohlson
Erik Ohlson, 40, of Jackson, Wyoming, is accused of shooting his girlfriend, Jennifer Nalley, of Driggs, and her unborn child last July. He is facing two counts of first-degree murder.
Teton County sheriff’s deputies arrested Ohlson early July 5 for driving his truck into a power pole.
He was later taken to Madison County Jail, where Idaho State Police questioned him as part of their investigation into the teacher’s death. There Ohlson admitted to shooting Nalley in her front door “until his gun ran out of bullets.”
However, earlier this month, District Judge Bruce Pickett ordered that the confession be thrown out as evidence because Ohlson’s request for a lawyer had not been honored at the time he made his statements to police.
A jury trial is scheduled for July 31.
Federal convictions
Two murder cases were resolved in federal court in Pocatello earlier this year.
Anthony Ish
Anthony Ish, 33, of Fort Hall, was convicted of second degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting death of Darrell Auck on Oct. 14, 2014.
During the four-day murder trial in February, witnesses told the federal jury that they saw Ish shoot Auck during a birthday party at a residence on East Agency Road that was owned by his grandmother, Bonnie Ish.
Anthony Ish’s uncle, Frank Ish, testified that he saw Anthony drag the body to the side of the trailer home and load it into a pick-up truck, and one jailhouse witness claimed that Anthony asked him to move the body from a buried location to a canal bed.
Auck’s body has never been recovered.
The federal jury deliberated for about one hour before returning the guilty verdict.
Sentencing in that case is set for May 10.
Demetrius Gomez
In a separate trial in the U.S. Court in January, Demetrius Gomez, also of Fort Hall, was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his cousin, Tyrone Diaz, at a residence in Fort Hall.
Gomez, 29, was indicted May 24, 2016.
Diaz died from a fatal shotgun blast to the face at close range.
A witness reported hearing Gomez threaten to shoot Diaz and then hearing the shotgun blast.
Gomez directed the witness to drive her truck to the east side of the house. But the witness instead drove to a relative’s home and they reported the shooting.
Police found the mobile home empty and after gaining entrance to the residence, officers followed a blood trail from the house to a shed where Diaz’s body was found rolled up inside of a rug.
Sentencing in that case is set for June 1.