911 call from accused killer played during day 2 of trial
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IDAHO FALLS – The prosecution questioned law enforcement officials about a fatal shooting on the second day of testimony for a man accused of first-degree murder.
Mark Bent, 43, is charged with the first-degree murder of Nikolas Todd Bird, 23, on Sept. 3, 2022.
Shortly after the shooting, Bent reportedly admitted on Facebook to planning the killing.
District Judge Michael Whyte is presiding over the trial, which is expected to last into next week.
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The first witness Wednesday was Leslie Hendrian, a 911 dispatcher with the Idaho Falls Police Department. Hendrian says she answered the call from Bent on Sept. 3, 2022, where he reportedly admitted to killing Bird.
“I took a call from Mr. Bent that said that he wanted to report himself and confess,” says Hendrian. Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal played the 911 call in court that you can listen to in the player above.
In the call, Bent is heard saying, “I need to turn myself in…My name is Mark Bent”, and “I shot someone…I’m at Albertson’s on 17th.”
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Bent is also heard saying, “I’m in a truck. I’ll be outside with my hands up.” When Hendrian asks Bent who he shot, he responds, “Nikolas Bird.”
Hendrian then asks him what his side of the story is, and Bent replies, “At this point, I think I need a lawyer.”
The state also called Idaho Falls Police Sgt. David Shanor.
Shanor testified that he responded to Albertson’s on the night of the shooting to search the inside of the truck and seize any items that seem related to the shooting.
He stated he found a Smith & Wesson 9-mm pistol with a magazine inside, an additional magazine, a dash-cam, a nylon pouch with attachments holding two more magazines, safety glasses, makeshift earplugs and a piece of asphalt in a grocery bag, a backpack with nothing inside, sunglasses, a “Weedology” vape pen, a pistol holster.”
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Shanor testified that the magazines found in the truck can hold 17 bullets each, which is the same amount of times Bird was reportedly shot.
Kyle Christopherson, a detective and digital forensic examiner for the Idaho Falls Police Department, was called to the stand next, testifying over Zoom about the contents of the dash cam found in Bent’s truck along with Facebook messages discovered during the investigation.
Bent’s defense attorney Serhiy Stavynskyy objected to the Facebook messages being shown to the jury because he says it can’t be proven who wrote and sent them.
Whyte denied the request, and the jury was able to read the messages, but they were not read in court.
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Stetson Belnap, an officer with the Idaho Falls Police Department, was called next, testifying that he was called to EIRMC to get an update on Bird after the shooting.
Belnap says he also took photos of Bird’s injuries in a surgical suite at the hospital, which were shown to the court. Bent did not look at these photos while they were being displayed to the court.
Belnap says he then went back to the scene of the alleged shooting on Saturn Avenue to take photos. The photos were shown to the jury, depicting spent shell casings, a cell phone, and blood on the ground outside Bird’s car.
Court is expected to resume Thursday at 9 a.m. If convicted, Bent could face life in prison.