Murder suspect who allegedly confessed online is expected to change plea
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IDAHO FALLS – A 42-year-old man who allegedly murdered a man last year is expected to change his plea on Thursday.
According to court records, Mark Bent, who initially pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, is scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Bent was charged with first-degree murder after the shooting death of 23-year-old Nikolas Todd Bird on Sept. 3, 2022.
It is not clear if Bent will be accepting a plea agreement.
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Background of the case
On Sept. 3, 2022, Idaho Falls Police responded to a shooting on Clair View Lane in Idaho Falls.
A caller told dispatchers that a man was “laying in the street, and a full-size truck just left the area.”
The victim, later identified as Bird, had “several gunshot wounds and was transported to EIRMC where he was later pronounced deceased.”
Court documents say dispatchers received a call around 11 p.m. from a man who said he was Mark Bent and he was turning himself in.
He allegedly told police he “shot someone” and identified that person as “Nik Bird” before telling officers that he was at the Albertsons on 17th Street and had a gun in his truck.
Officers found Bent and arrested him. A gun was found in the passenger seat of his car with ammunition that matched the shell casings in the area where the shooting occurred.
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Later, officers were alerted that Bent had seemed to have posted a confession on his Facebook page after the shooting.
In the post, Bent allegedly states, “I am saddened to say that I have committed some serious crimes today that will put me in jail for the rest of my life.”
He wrote that he met Bird through a car-related Facebook group. Bent recently thought about attacking various car-related events around the area due to disagreements with group members.
He allegedly wrote in the post that his “main goal was to kill Nik Bird.”
Though Bent has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
If convicted, Bent could face the death penalty or life in prison.