Suspect named in Kirk murder case
Devin Heilman | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years AGO
The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office officially released the name of one suspect who was arrested Friday in connection with the William "Bo" Kirk murder investigation.
David Earl Hutto, 44, of Hayden was booked into the Kootenai County Jail on second degree murder charges. Law enforcement personnel from the North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force and the U.S. Marshall's Service, Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Task Force tracked him down at a local eatery on Appleway Avenue in Coeur d'Alene.
The second suspect was arrested earlier in the day and is being held in federal custody on charges related to the homicide, according to KCSO. The second individual's identity and arrest information has not yet been released.
Detectives also secured a search warrant for a residence on Miles Avenue in Hayden where Hutto was living. The search took several hours to process.
"I figured it was serious because they were carrying rifles," said Ron Harbison, a neighbor who lives two houses away from Hutto's residence.
Harbison said he got home around 5:30 Friday evening and saw a lot of police activity in the area. He checked outside a few times to monitor the progress and went to bed, not even knowing which house was under investigation.
"I found out this morning. Two houses down," he said Saturday. "That's a little close for comfort."
Harbison, who has lived in the neighborhood for about 37 years, said it has always been a quiet, laid-back area and that he never had any trouble with anyone at Hutto's address.
"I learned a long time ago, you never know what people are going to turn out to be like," he said. "Am I surprised? Yeah. Like I said, I never saw anything odd happening, never got any clue that they were bad people in any way, shape or form. They kept to themselves."
KCSO stated in its press release that "contrary to information circulated outside law enforcement sources, there was no standoff situation at the Miles Avenue residence."
"Local and federal agencies working on this investigation are confident that there are no other suspects outstanding," KCSO said.
On the evening of Oct. 22, Kirk, 41, went missing after working his shift at Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls. His body was found Tuesday near the Hayden Creek Shooting Range, northeast of Hayden Lake in the Coeur d'Alene National Forest. His truck was found on fire soon after in the 23000 block of North Rimrock Road.
He is survived by his wife Amanda and their three children.
Although several agencies have been working at a nearly nonstop pace on this investigation, KCSO said, "there is still a great deal of investigative work to be done."
Murder suspect Hutto did not have a connection to Kirk's workplace, according to Northwest Specialty Hospital CEO Rick Rasmussen.
"We don't, and as far as I know, have never had an employee at NWSH with that name," Rasmussen said. "Words can't describe how bad we all feel for Amanda and the kids. But we are extremely grateful for all the efforts and long hard hours put in by the great law enforcement officers we have in our community."
Staff writer Brian Walker contributed to this story.