Father accused of attempting to murder his son waives preliminary hearing
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — A man accused of attempting to murder his own son waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
An arraignment date for Dale Smith, the father of noted Idaho Falls attorney Bryan Smith, has not yet been set.
Dale was arrested on Nov. 16, after he was reportedly found outside of Bryan’s home with an AK-47 and ammunition in the front seat of his vehicle. He was charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree stalking, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of destructive devices.
According to court documents, when interviewed by police, Dale initially said he was planning on moving from Caldwell to Utah where his other son lives. He said he packed up his belongings including his guns, six rifles and four handguns and put them in his pickup truck.
He said he went to Bryan’s house so he could drop off a letter to his wife before he left for Utah and a note for Bryan in a last-ditch effort to patch things up with him.
Dale’s wife is legally under Bryan’s care. Bryan has a no-contact order against Dale that covers Dale’s wife as well. Dale said he went to Bryan’s house to drop off the letter, even though he knew it was a violation of the order to do so.
According to documents, the letter implied Dale planned on causing Bryan harm.
When confronted with the letter Dale admitted to planning on hurting Bryan.
“I would sacrifice my life, whether that be by execution, in jail, prison for life, whatever to free my wife,” Dale said, according to documents.
Dale said he had asked his attorney if Bryan died in some way if he would be able to get his wife back. He said he was told it wouldn’t be difficult because she would no longer be under Bryan’s care.
Police asked Dale if he walked up to Bryan’s house with the rifle. Dale responded, “Yes I did. So how many years is that gonna get me?”
According to documents, Dale said the plan was to walk up to Bryan’s house and smash a couple of beer bottles to bring Bryan to the door. When Bryan opened the door that’s when Dale would kill him. He said again he would give his life to free his wife.
Dale also said he had grenades in his truck but only intended to use them “if it ever became necessary to defend the neighborhood.” He said he didn’t plan to use them to blow up Bryans home.
When police searched the vehicle they found 15 modified World War II-era pineapple grenades, three rolls of cannon fuse, three fuse heads and three electric squib initiators.
They also found multiple Nevada license plates with adhesive on the back of them. They found Adderall that was prescribed to Dale’s wife. Dale said he uses the Adderall to stay awake when driving. They found lorazepam in a baggie that Dale said he got from his other son.
Documents show police began getting involved in cases between Dale and Bryan in January 2017 when Bryan told police about several threatening phone calls Dale had made.
Allegedly, Dale said things like he was going “to turn Bryan into a vegetable,” “Put him in a damn box,” “may come over and blow his f***** head off myself and lay the gun down and wait for the cops to come,” and “if it’s the last thing I ever do in my life, I will suck the life out of him, now that’s a promise, as God as my witness.”
Documents show Dale continued to make phone calls and issue similar threats up through November. Dale violated the no contact order against him on four different occasions.