BONNERS FERRY — A Boundary County man has been found not guilty on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree arson. 

On Friday, Oct. 17, jurors found Shannon Dabbs, 60, not guilty in the 2020 murder of his wife and the burning of the couple’s home. The decision came after more than a day of deliberation. 

After the verdict was read that Dabbs had been found not guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree arson, the 10 people in the courtroom were silent aside except Dabbs, who could be heard uttering, “finally.”  

It is the second time Dabbs has faced charges in connection with the 2020 incident. The first trial ended in a hung jury on Jan. 23, 2025, with 10 jurors in favor of a guilty verdict and two undecided. This time, the jury voted 12-0 to acquit Dabbs. 

Boundary County Prosecuting Attorney Andrakay Pluid detailed what she thought the strongest evidence of Dabbs’s guilt was in an email. 

“As I said in my closing statement and I continue to believe, the most important evidence in this case that shows that Susan Dabbs was deceased prior to the fire was the complete absence of sooting and normal carboxyhemoglobin levels in her blood,” Pluid wrote, explaining why she believed Dabbs was guilty.  

“The physical evidence simply doesn’t correspond with the defendant’s story. If she was breathing in the fire she would have shown at least some sooting if you believe his story, which she did not exhibit. If Ms. Dabbs was deceased prior to the fire, she cannot have done anything the defendant claims. Dead people don’t shoot guns, dead people don’t start fires.” 

Defense attorney Joseph Sullivan argued the prosecution’s claims did not meet the high burden of proof needed for a conviction. Dabbs has maintained that his wife shot at him and he acted in self-defense. 

“All of the physical evidence in the case corroborates his statement,” Sullivan said. “There’s nothing that was identified as evidence that would disprove what his statement was. Fortunately, we have our legal protections, where it’s the state’s burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody is guilty of a crime.”   

Sullivan stated that motive was something that the defense focused on in the retrial.   

“I think we drilled in a lot better about motive, which I think was kind of lacking on the state’s part in the retrial about why Mr. Dabbs would not have a motive and why Mrs. Dabbs would have been in the frame of mind to do what Mr. Dabbs claimed she did,” Sullivan said.   

Dabbs was initially arrested in August 2023 before he posted a $300,000 bail. In total, 28 witnesses were called to testify in the case. Of those, all but seven testified for the state.