Man goes to prison in death of bouncer
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POCATELLO — A Fort Hall man will spend at least 14 years in prison for the death of a bar bouncer.
On Thursday, 6th District Judge Rick Carnaroli sentenced Martin Edmo Ish, 64, for voluntary manslaughter, a felony. Ish will spend 14 to 15 years in state prison with credit for time served, according to a news release from Bannock County.
On June 14, 2009, Ish had already been kicked out of one bar in Old Town Pocatello when bouncer Eugene Lorne Red Elk escorted Ish out of Duffy’s tavern.
A person who lived across from the tavern said she heard a loud cracking sound and saw Red Elk lying in the parking lot and a man leaving. A bar patron found Red Elk bleeding and hurt outside of Duffy’s.
Red Elk was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, and he died three days later.
The case went cold until 2015, when Ish’s cousin told authorities that he told her he had “popped” Red Elk.
Ish was convicted of manslaughter in 2017, but the Idaho Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2020 due to technical errors made during jury selection, according to the news release. Ish was again found guilty in August of this year.
“I would submit that Ish had his pride hurt several times on June 14, 2009,” Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog said in the 2021 trial.
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