Man who shot wife could be dying
KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years AGO
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | September 4, 2021 1:00 AM
COEUR d’ALENE — A 75-year-old man who avoided prison for shooting his wife but soon landed back in jail may be dying.
After pleading guilty to aggravated battery, the Coeur d’Alene man received a suspended sentence earlier this month that would allow him to spend the rest of his life in an assisted-living facility, rather than behind bars.
He reportedly has about six months left to live due to severe health issues.
The Press is not naming him because that would reveal the identity of the victim.
Sandpoint police responded Aug. 14 to the facility where he resided, after a health care worker said he battered her.
She told police the man grabbed her hand hard enough that she “felt something pop.”
Medical records indicate her hand was either fractured or had a pinched nerve, according to court documents.
The man denied touching the health care worker.
After the alleged battery, the facility began the process of evicting him.
Police obtained a warrant for his arrest on the grounds that he violated the terms of his probation, which requires him to commit no new criminal offenses and reside in assisted living or hospice care.
He was taken into custody Aug. 23.
Since then, the man has reportedly refused to appear in court, speak with his attorneys or take life-sustaining medication.
He’s not delusional, medical staff said in court this week, and he understands the consequences of his choices.
A nurse at the Kootenai County jail testified it’s “just a matter of time for death.”
In addition to criminal matters, the man is in the midst of a divorce from his wife of 43 years, whom he shot in the back last October.
His estranged wife said in court that she lost multiple organs as a result of the shooting and will experience significant health effects for the rest of her life.
A divorce trial is scheduled to begin next month. The man has reportedly refused to participate in mediation leading up to the trial.
An attorney representing him said she believes he is “stalling” until he passes away.
The man’s adult children have been unable to find another assisted-living facility in the area willing to accept him, according to court documents.
Judge Cynthia Meyer ordered Thursday that the man undergo a mental health evaluation prior to a scheduled probation hearing.
In the meantime, he will remain in jail.
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