Questioning ends in rest stop murder trial, closing arguments set for Friday

IDAHO FALLS — The last of the witnesses testified Thursday in the Ririe rest stop murder case, including the defendant who claims he thought the man he shot had a gun.

Randy Larkin, 60, is charged with one count of first-degree murder for the death of Morey Pelton. Larkin’s friends — Gerald Hamlin and William Burton — were in a vehicle with him the night of the incident on May 12, 2022. Hamlin drove, Larkin was a passenger, and Burton sat in the backseat.

For previous coverage of this trial, click here.

The defense continued questioning Larkin during his second day on the stand. Larkin stated he believed Pelton had a gun in his car when they were arguing at the Lane Clark rest stop.

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Larkin told jurors he thought Pelton was “high on meth” and did not think he could defend himself from Pelton in a physical fight.

When asked what he did with the gun after the shooting, Larkin said he threw it in the dumpster at The Covered Wagon bar in Irwin.

Six to eight weeks after the shooting, Larkin said he received a call from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Department, asking him to speak to deputies and turn himself in. Larkin said he did and has now been in jail for over two and a half years.

Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal asked Larkin if he shot Pelton “without justification or excuse.” Larkin denied that.

“You deliberately pulled the trigger despite the knowledge that that act was dangerous to Morey Pelton’s life?” asked Neal.

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“At the time, I did not have that in my mind, no,” replied Larkin.

Larkin then described the decision to shoot Pelton as not rational but “to protect myself.” He said he “did not murder” Pelton but killed him in self-defense. During the trial, Larkin claimed that he got out and used the bathroom when he arrived at the rest stop.

Neal asked Larkin if he would be surprised if Shea McNama of the Idaho Department of Transportation testified that Larkin was never seen going into the bathroom on security footage.

Larkin said he would be surprised to hear that.

RELATED | Key witnesses recount minutes leading up to shooting in rest stop murder case

McNama later testified and showed security footage from the bathrooms that do not show Larkin entering on that night.

Larkin then testified that before Pelton fell to the ground after the shooting, he balled his fists up – showing he did not have a gun in his hands. Larkin was shaking and breathing shakily while describing how he knew Pelton was dead after the shooting.

“The way he fell … he fell straight down,” said Larkin.

Larkin then admitted that if someone had called the cops, and they hadn’t left Pelton’s body in the rest stop, Hamlin would not have gotten in trouble.

Hamlin was recently sentenced to a retained jurisdiction for his involvement in the killing.

Larkin told the jury that he tried to commit suicide two to three weeks after the shooting. He reportedly pulled over to the side of the road in Pocatello and ingested morphine and dog tranquilizers before regretting it, and driving himself to Portneuf Medical Center.

“I started thinking about my family,” said Larkin.

After the lunch break, Neal showed security footage and a re-enactment of the three cars meeting at the rest stop, seemingly proving parts of Larkin’s testimony to be false.

RELATED | Rest stop murder trial begins in Bonneville County

The defense then rested, allowing the prosecution to recall Bonneville County Sheriff Lt. Zeb Graham to the stand.

Graham said he searched Hamlin, Hincks, and Pelton’s cars weeks after the shooting, and found that none of the cars had significant damage, and he did not see anything that indicated Pelton’s driver door had struck Hinck’s car, as Larkin has claimed.

After reviewing phone records, Graham claims he found 26 multiple text messages and phone calls between Larkin and Burton in the time between the shooting on May 12 and Larkin’s arrest – contrary to Larkin’s claims that they did not speak after the night of the shooting.

Graham said he found no text messages or phone calls between Larkin and Hincks on May 12 between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m – Larkin claims they talked to each other on the phone at least once that night.

Larkin’s defense attorney, Allen Browning, then questioned Graham, showing him a picture of Hincks’ car and asking him to describe a large “scuff” near the passenger side tire.

After McNama’s testimony, in which he claimed that Larkin did not go into the bathroom, Browning claimed that it’s possible that Larkin went behind the bathroom and relieved himself outside instead of in it.

The last witness of the trial was Detective Mike Hammer, who took photos of the vehicles involved in the shooting and also assisted in bringing them to the courthouse for demonstration.

District Judge Bruce Pickett denied Neal’s request to use the actual cars for demonstration during the trial.

Closing arguments are expected to begin Friday at 9 a.m.