Court docs: Man hitched ride with campers after violent home invasion, hid gun in laundry basket
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MADISON COUNTY — A man accused of shooting and stabbing a couple Monday morning hitched a ride with campers afterward and told his brother he was going to “cap” someone.
That’s according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by EastIdahoNews.com.
Pierre G. Lake, 18, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, burglary and grand theft. Lake is accused of entering the mobile home of Ralph and Karen Brian off North 12th West, where he allegedly shot Ralph in the back of the head and stabbed Karen multiple times in the face, neck and/or arm.
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The Madison County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from one of the Brians’ neighbors shortly after 5 a.m. Monday saying someone had likely been shot.
“The reporting party stated their son saw someone in all black clothing, wearing a mask, fight with and shoot the male,” the probable cause affidavit states. “The reporting party stated the female neighbor was covered in blood.”
The Brians were taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center while deputies investigated the crime. Detectives say it appeared Karen was stabbed inside the home, and Ralph was shot on the front lawn with a Ruger Security 6 357 revolver that he owned.
Deputies received numerous tips about the crime Monday and Tuesday morning. They learned Lake had been dropped off — it was unclear by whom — near the Brians’ mobile home early Monday and later asked for a ride to Rigby from numerous people camping at Eagle Park in Rexburg, according to the probable cause document.
“He had told those individuals that there had been shooting and stabbing and gave them a false name,” a detective wrote in court documents. “These same individuals identified him by his driver’s license picture. We further learned that Peirre had told his brother in the early morning hours of 9/20/2021 that he was going to go ‘cap’ somebody.”
Police were led to Lake’s home in Jefferson County Tuesday afternoon. Bonneville, Fremont, Madison and Jefferson County Sheriff deputies, along with Rexburg police officers, responded to the scene, where court documents say Lake confessed to the crimes.
“During the course of the interview, Lake admitted to unlawfully entering the home of Ralph and Karen Brian. Lake admitted to attacking Karen with a knife and stabbing her multiple times. Lake also admitted to shooting Ralph ‘point blank’ in the head with the 357 revolver that he took away from Ralph. The same 357 revolver was found at Lake’s Jefferson County home in his room hidden in a laundry basket,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
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Court documents do not indicate a motive for the crime or whether Lake knew the Brians. He appeared in court for the first time Tuesday afternoon, where bail was set at $1 million. Lake remains in the Madison County Jail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 6.