COEUR d’ALENE — The prosecution and defense both rested Wednesday in the trial of a St. Maries family accused of poaching mountain lions and bobcats across North Idaho.

Eddy and Angela Dills, a married couple, and their adult son, Daniel Dills, are accused of conspiracy to commit unlawful killing of wildlife, conspiracy to sell unlawfully killed wildlife and conspiracy to conceal evidence, all felonies. 

Closing arguments are expected to begin Thursday morning. 

The Dillses chose not to testify. Attorneys representing Eddy Dills and Daniel Dills offered no evidence, while Angela Dills’ attorney offered her client’s son-in-law, Joshua Cox, as a witness. 

Cox told jurors he has gone hound hunting with his mother-in-law, who he described as an experienced hunter. 

“She’s a dead shot,” he said. “She doesn’t miss.” 

He described an occasion last spring when the two went bear hunting. Cox said Angela Dills helped him to manage the dogs and the GPS system used to track the dogs’ movements. When the dogs treed a bear, Cox said he shot it. 

Cox said he was not present for any of the hunting trips at issue in the case, when prosecutors allege Angela Dills killed no animals but instead took credit for mountain lions and bobcats her husband and son had killed. 

In 2019, the same year the Dillses moved from Washington to Idaho, Eddy Dills’ hunting privileges were revoked for 100 years, effectively a lifetime ban. Under the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, all 50 states honor this revocation; that means Eddy Dills cannot hunt legally anywhere in the U.S. 

Daniel Dills lost his hunting privileges for three years beginning in April 2024, after he pleaded guilty to knowingly selling, purchasing or exchanging unlawfully killed wildlife in Latah County. 

Trevor Meadows, a regional investigator for Idaho Fish and Game, detailed for jurors the mortality reports and harvest records Daniel Dills completed between February 2020 and March 2024. During that period, records showed that Daniel Dills also sold the hides and carcasses of numerous raccoons, mountain lions and bobcats to Moscow Hide and Fur in Latah County. 

Beginning in May 2024, a month after her son lost his hunting privileges, Angela Dills began completing mortality reports and harvest records for mountain lions and bobcats, as well as selling animal parts to Moscow Hide and Fur. 

“Before the dates we saw in exhibits, she had never submitted a big game mortality report,” Meadows said. 

Prosecutors allege that Angela Dills acted as a cover for her son and husband, filling out the paperwork for their kills because she was the only one of the three who had hunting privileges. 

In court Wednesday, defense counsel asked First District Judge John Cafferty to acquit the Dillses, arguing that prosecutors had not proved their case. 

“The state hasn’t shown sufficient evidence to establish conspiracy whatsoever,” said Tyler Naftz, who represents Eddy Dills. 

Prosecuting attorney Monica Bushling said she believes jurors can make “reasonable inferences” and find the defendants guilty based on witness testimony and other evidence presented in court. 

“This case is one that needs to be reviewed in its totality,” she said. “We need to get a big picture of events to understand what the state is alleging.” 

Cafferty denied the motion for judgment of acquittal. 

“The court does find that the state has presented substantial and confident elements to sustain a conviction,” he said, adding that whether the Dillses are guilty will be for the jury to decide.