Following several hours of testimony over two days, Magistrate James Stow found probable cause Friday to send Shaun Patrick Kelly’s murder case to District Court for a future trial.

During the preliminary hearing, Stow also raised Kelly’s bond amount from $100,000 to $150,000, a move Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said is unusual.

Kelly, 43, is accused of forcing Evan Mychal Larkin, 22, of Post Falls, to eat a fatal dose of methamphetamine at gunpoint last August to prove he was not a police informant. Larkin remained unconscious in the hospital for three days after the incident and died Aug. 23. Kelly was arrested July 1 in Spokane and is charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Deputy Prosecutor Donna Gardner requested the bond be raised to $1 million out of concern the witnesses and Larkin’s family could be in danger, and based on Kelly’s criminal history which includes failing to appear for court dates multiple times.

Gardner said Kelly has commented to his girlfriend during telephone conversations that he “really needs to find out who told the police where he was.”

Stow said $1 million was excessive but agreed Kelly's history required the bond amount to be higher.

Kelly's defense attorney, Anne Taylor, said the state's "best case" is Josh Brown, the man who told police he was with Larkin when the incident occurred. He also admitted to leaving Larkin, who was unconscious, in his truck parked in the emergency room parking lot at Kootenai Health. Brown, currently incarcerated on unrelated charges, testified Friday after he was given immunity by the prosecution regarding any self-incriminating statements he might disclose about the events leading to Larkin's death.

Brown testified in detail to much of what he told the police after they questioned him in September, including how he went with Larkin to meet Kelly at a Post Falls residence so they could “get high.” He said Kelly acted aggressively, was yelling and forced them to undress and hand over their keys and cellphones.

Brown said, when asked why he complied with Kelly’s demands, “There were no threats or anything like that. I guess I was nervous ... He thought Evan was a cop. (Kelly) was sketched out on the whole situation so he was looking for wires."

Taylor asked Brown why he and Larkin did not leave the residence when Kelly left the room, and Brown said because they did not have the keys to Larkin’s truck. He said Kelly could not find the keys either and later started the truck with some sort of tool, possibly a screwdriver, after Larkin became unresponsive. Kelly allegedly told Brown to take Larkin out to a field somewhere and leave him there.

Taylor argued against Brown's credibility, stating he "is trying to pin it on Kelly.” Gardner said that did not make sense.

"Why would he go through the effort of making up this story against a person who appears to be a person that delivers drugs, a drug dealer, and risk his own safety and future by providing these kind of details about a person he doesn't even know?" Gardner said.

Taylor also argued in the case of the second-degree murder charge, the state cannot prove implied malice because "it was all about getting high" and not about "getting dead."

Stow said although some of the prosecution’s witnesses “are not the highest members of society,” he found credible evidence in the testimony and exhibits that support Brown’s story and affirm the three felony charges.

McHugh said the next step is for the assigned District Court judge to schedule an arraignment where Brown will be able to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.