Coroner waiting on state go-ahead to exhume body of Blackfoot man
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BLACKFOOT — The Bingham County Coroner’s Office is awaiting state approval to exhume the body of a man whose 2021 death was ruled a suicide.
Coroner Jimmy Roberts, who was not in office in 2021, has supported the Stephenson family’s quest for answers since he took the position in 2022.
Kye Stephenson died on Aug. 6, 2021, from a single gunshot wound to the head. His death was ruled a suicide, but his parents have questioned that ruling for nearly two years due to vague or conflicting police and coroner reports.
Stacey and Buff Stephenson, Kye’s mother and father, have raised numerous questions regarding Kye’s death and the suicide ruling with both the Blackfoot Police Department and the coroner’s office. They have fought for the answer that only an exhumation and autopsy could provide.
Now, their fight has come down to a waiting game as the Idaho Attorney General’s Office’s approval is all that stands between the Stephensons and Kye’s exhumation.
Roberts told EastIdahoNews.com that he does not expect that wait to last long.
“We’ll probably be doing an exhumation sometime in the next few weeks,” he said. “I hope this brings (the Stephensons) some kind of peace. … I don’t want anybody to have those sorts of questions.”
Stacey spoke with EastIdahoNews.com shortly after learning that the county had approved Kye’s exhumation. She said she and the family were “very excited” by the news, adding that an autopsy, no matter what it determines, would go a long way in ending what says has been “hell.”
“I need closure on what’s happened here so we can move on,” she said.
The questions started shortly after the Stephensons were informed of the death of their 30-year-old son. The biggest question the Stephensons have regarded the entry of the bullet into Kye’s head — whether it entered on his right or left side. They believe Kye’s death cannot properly be ruled self-inflicted without an answer.
Answers to those questions, the Stephensons believe, could determine whether Kye did in fact take his own life, or was shot by someone else.
For 18 months, the Stephensons have fought for exhumation. During that time, Stacey said she has discussed countless times with her husband how getting determinate answers to those questions would help her family finally accept Kye’s death and find, what she called, their “new normal.”
“No matter the outcome, just to have that sense of peace in our lives so we can heal (will help us move on),” she said. “This would definitely put us in the right direction of finding our new normal and put closure on what happened that night.”
For more about this case. Read EastIdahoNews.com’s previous story here.