SANDPOINT — Idaho Commission of Pardons & Parole declined an early release for a former Sagle man imprisoned for shooting Elvin “Eli” Holt in 2008, according to the Idaho Commission of Pardons & Parole website.

“It’s the first time since the trial that it’s gone our way,” said Holt’s mother, Alice.

Holt and her brother-in-law traveled to Orofino on May 5 to urge the commission not to grant an early release to James Matthew Anderson, who was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving out the remainder of a seven-year term.

Anderson was accused of shooting Eli Holt in the face with a .44 magnum during a confrontation outside Anderson’s trailer off U.S. Highway 95. Anderson told investigators that Holt and Holt’s half-brother attacked him, which prompted him to go inside his home and arm himself with the pistol.

Eli Holt, 30, reportedly went to Anderson’s trailer to confront him about an alleged battery that Anderson had perpetrated on a close friend of Holt’s on an earlier occasion.

At trial, the defense argued that the pistol discharged accidentally during the struggle. A jury, however, ruled that the shooting was an unjustified use of deadly force.

Anderson was originally sentenced to serve at least 10 years, but he successfully argued for it to be shortened on grounds that his defense counsel prevented him from testifying at his trial in 1st District Court.

“When he got his sentence shortened it felt like we were getting kicked in the face,” Alice Holt said.

Holt’s family has sympathized with the plight of Anderson’s family due to his incarceration, but good will the family had toward Anderson has diminished due to Anderson’s efforts to shorten his sentence and avoid accountability through his entrance of an Alford plea, which enabled him to deny moral responsibility for Holt’s murder.

Alice Holt said she nearly agreed not to contest Anderson’s parole if he stayed at least 400 miles from Sandpoint upon his release. She ultimately refused upon learning that Anderson filed a $20 million claim for damages against Bonner County for allegedly being thwarted from taking the stand in his own defense.

Anderson has expressed regret over Eli Holt’s death, which Alice Holt believes is genuine. She also acknowledges that Anderson has been an exemplary inmate who counsels suicidal prison inmates.

“Our main point was that we haven’t had a moment’s peace. He’s never admitted to beating Justin Hines and he’s never really admitted putting a gun against my son’s eye and pulling the trigger,” Alice Holt said.

Anderson, 36, is serving his sentence at the Idaho Correctional Institution in Orofino, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. He will remain imprisoned until at least 2019, according to the pardons and parole website.