Lori Isenberg, 66, is accused of planning to kill her husband by intentionally creating the situation in which he was submerged in the lake and died, court documents say.

She was booked into the Kootenai County Jail Monday on suspicion of murder with a $2 million bond, The Spokesman-Review reported.

Isenberg’s charges also cite poison, lying in wait or torture as potential factors in the killing. Larry Isenberg’s body contained lethal levels of Benadryl, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office.

A week after her husband died, Isenberg wrote a letter to friends and family detailing the events, which was obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

The couple took the boat out Feb. 13 to see the sunrise, the motor stalled, Isenberg wrote, and her husband fell overboard while leaning over the motor. Isenberg wrote that she tried to reach her husband but tripped over a space heater, hitting her head.

Isenberg said she eventually found her husband’s phone and called for help. She told a detective she waited two hours because she didn’t want to leave the area where her husband fell into the water.

Isenberg was later charged with embezzling half-a-million dollars from her former employer, the North Idaho Housing Coalition. She pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January 2019 and was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for embezzling from the organization.

Four of Lori Isenberg’s daughters have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for taking money from their mother that was embezzled.

Investigators also discovered handwritten changes had been made to Larry Isenberg’s will to give 80% of his estate to his wife’s six daughters and 20% to his own two children.

Isenberg has continually been under investigation for her husband’s death, including a Jan. 31 grand jury indictment that eventually led to the murder charges filed this week.

Isenberg was brought to Kootenai County in Idaho from the SeaTac federal detention center in Seattle, according to court documents. It wasn’t immediately known if she has a lawyer.

Danforth pleaded guilty in December to seeking a contract killing. She had originally pleaded not guilty.

Danforth met with an undercover agent in Montana that she believed to be a hitman and agreed to pay him $5,000 for the hit, prosecutors said.

“She had specific requirements that the hit man was to accomplish, such as (the victim’s) body had to be found and (she) did not care if others who lived in the home were harmed as long as her own child was not harmed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan said.

Defense attorneys argued Danforth had a troubled childhood, including sexual violence, before her involvement in adult films.

Danforth told the court Tuesday that she was trying to do what was best for her children because she believed the father had abused a child. But prosecutors told the court that the abuse claim was unfounded, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill called Danforth's 20-minute speech a deflection of responsibility.

Winmill recommended Danforth be placed in the Dublin, California facility, which is a low-security penitentiary for female inmates.

“Within the past month, CSI has received reports from two female students that they were sexually assaulted in separate incidents by an acquaintance, a male CSI student,” the alert said. “The female students state that the assaults occurred at their residences, and based on the facts known at this time, there is no indication of forcible entry into the residences. The specific locations are not being listed to protect the reporting students’ identities, and the reporting students want to remain anonymous.”

Twin Falls Police spokesman J.P. O’Donnell confirmed Wednesday that the department is investigating.

Just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, police were called to the Family Dollar at 1746 Addison Ave. E. for a robbery.

The cashier reported a man later identified as Rodriguez demanded cash from the register, then fled. The cashier said he didn’t pull out a gun, but she could see what she believed was an extended magazine sticking out of his coat pocket. She saw the man run to a red Ford Focus driven by a woman with red hair and got the license plate number.

A Twin Falls police sergeant found the Focus at an apartment building on Washington Street South and made a traffic stop. Rodriguez was in the back seat wearing clothing described by the cashier. Police brought everyone in the car to the police station for questioning.

Police say Rodriguez admitted to the robbery and said he had a loaded black Glock 19 handgun with a silver extended magazine in his coat pocket.

“He acknowledged that he scared her as he heard her crying while she left the store,” the police report said.

He told police he gave the driver between $80 and $100 for gas, but said no one else in the car knew he was going to commit the robbery and that he planned to buy methamphetamine, the report said.

Police said Rodriguez changed his story about the whereabouts of the gun he used in the robbery several times. He initially told police he didn’t know where it was, then said it was in a dresser in his bedroom. Later he said the gun in his bedroom was actually a BB gun and he said he’d thrown the Glock handgun off a bridge on the way to his apartment.

Rodriguez’s bond was set at $150,000, and a preliminary hearing has been set for March 6.

The teen girl who drove the car has been charged with felony aiding and abetting in the robbery.

Wells was charged in April with 19 counts of grand theft. She pleaded not guilty to all counts at that time.

In November, Wells pleaded guilty to five counts. The other 14 counts were dismissed in a plea agreement.

“I took a Box Canyon Dairy check to pay a personal credit card,” Wells told Fifth District Judge Rosemary Emory.

The maximum sentence for each count of grand theft is 14 years in prison and a $50,000 fine, Emory said at the time. The plea agreement provided an open recommendation on sentencing, with possible probation.

Wells was hired by Box Canyon Dairy as chief financial officer and internal accountant in 2012, according to court documents. She resigned in January as the dairy was closing its operation. Wells was charged after an investigation showed she had written checks to pay credit card bills and falsified payments for a loan she had with the company.

Wells and her husband, Dustin Wells, face a civil lawsuit brought by Box Canyon Dairy in Jerome County in an attempt to recover the funds. Dustin Wells filed a bankruptcy petition in May, according to court records.

Robblee was arraigned in Minidoka County Magistrate Court on Feb. 25, according to court records.

The woman told police Monday that she had confronted Robblee about the missing medication after she found him smoking some of it, according to court documents.

The woman said Robblee then pinned her to the couch face down and pushed on her back and neck, the documents say. The woman got up and went into the bedroom, where Robblee pinned her face up on the bed. When she told him she couldn’t breathe, he got off of her.

She told police Robblee then held a machete blade to her neck and told her to get down on her knees, which she refused to do. He started swinging the machete around the room and struck a new vacuum cleaner and broke the glass on a picture frame.

The woman said Robblee cut his hand on the broken glass and then put some of his blood on the screen door window before he left in a pickup, the court documents say.

While officers were speaking with the woman, she saw the pickup Robbley left in, which belonged to someone else.

Police interviewed the owners of the pickup, who said they often gave Robbley rides and they said they had dropped him off at the KOA near Interstate 84.

After police left the woman’s residence, they were called back to the home, where they found a red Ford sedan parked in front of the home and Robblee on the property at the home.

Officers asked Robblee why he had held a machete blade to the woman’s neck and he said he was “playing around with her,” the documents say.

Police said Robblee told them that he pinned her to the couch because she was “under a lot of stress and he wanted to help her relieve the stress.”

Robblee was charged with grand theft for the vehicle parked outside the residence. Inside the car, officers found a black-handled knife in a sheaf that had blood on the handle.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set at 1:30 p.m. March 4 in magistrate court.

Magic Valley Most Wanted

The relationship between the man and woman and what prompted the disturbance is unclear.

The disturbance was reported by a family member, police told the Journal during a Wednesday press conference.

The man fled from the scene in a vehicle and police confronted and shot him less than two blocks away, authorities said. Police attempted to perform live-saving efforts on the man.

No other injuries were reported.

Multiple agencies responded to the scene including the Pocatello Fire Department, Chubbuck Police Department, Bannock County sheriff's office and Idaho State troopers.

An investigation is underway.

“The case hasn’t been resolved yet — so BLM can’t release the name of the individual,” BLM spokeswoman Heather Tiel-Nelson said in an email. “The individual has the right to either pay the fine, appear before a U.S. magistrate judge or request a jury trial. Until the individual chooses which of his/her rights to exercise, this is considered an open criminal matter.”

This isn’t the first time such dumping has happened on BLM ground, the statement said.

“It is extremely unfortunate that this type of activity occurs all too frequently on our public lands,” BLM Shoshone Field Manager Codie Martin said in the statement. “It has a domino effect that reverberates through our communities; from the hunters and hikers offended by the sight and smell to the grazing permittees that have to move their cattle to a different pasture due to a reasonable concern of contagious disease from not knowing the cause of death.”

The carcasses were found by a BLM employee earlier this winter, the statement said.

“Disposing of household or construction waste or dead animals or leaving behind trigger trash are not victimless crimes,” Twin Falls District Law Enforcement Ranger Mike Billo said. “We do our best to investigate these illegal dumping sites and hold those responsible accountable.”

Illegally disposing of waste on public land is a misdemeanor and can carry a maximum one-year jail sentence and up to a $1,000 fine.

The Twin Falls BLM District asks people to call 208-735-4600 to report any illegal dumping they see.

After the program, also known as a rider, the judge will decide if Dayley will go straight to his 17 years of probation or go to prison for up to 17 years.

Dayley was charged in March with the rape of a child under age 16 with the perpetrator age 18 or over, willfully possessing child sexually exploitative material, knowingly distributing child sexually exploitative material, child sexual abuse with a child under age 16 and battery with the intent to commit a serious felony. Those charges were dismissed under the plea agreement.

Cassia County District Judge Michael Tribe also sentenced Dayley to pay $545.50 in court costs and a $5,000 civil penalty to the victim.

A request for victim restitution was left open.

According to court records, Dayley was charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl he met while playing softball.

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Magic Valley’s Most Wanted

Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan have not been seen since September. Their disappearance captured worldwide attention after authorities pleaded for help in finding them late last year. Police in the city of Rexburg, Idaho, have said they “strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger.”

Bail for the equivalent felonies in Hawaii usually range from $2,000 to $20,000, Vallow's attorney, Craig De Costa said in a court motion seeking a reduction in bail. She isn't a flight risk and had offered to turn herself in to authorities before her arrest on Thursday, the motion said.

DanielHempey, a lawyer who represented Vallow at Friday's hearing, asked for bail to be lowered to $10,000.

The judge has discretion to set bail, Kauai prosecutorssaid in a court filing opposing Vallow's request.

Vallow is a flight risk, prosecutors said. “Given the extensive media attention, she is clearly aware that the authorities have prioritized her case,” prosecutors said. “She also has the means to move across an ocean.”

Prosecutors noted that Vallow's husband, Chad Daybell, had $152,000 in a First Hawaiian Bank account.

Police also have said Vallow and Daybell have lied about the children's whereabouts.

Vallow also is accused of disobeying a court order that required her to bring her children to Idaho authorities last month.

The tangled case includes investigations into three deaths. Vallow's estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed in Phoenix last July by her brother, Alex Cox. Then Cox, who claimed the shooting was in self-defense, died of unknown causes in December.

Vallow moved her family to Idaho in late August. In October, Chad Daybell's wife, Tammy Daybell, died of what her obituary said was natural causes. When Daybell married Vallow roughly two weeks after Tammy's death, law enforcement became suspicious and had her remains exhumed.

Test results on Daybell's remains and toxicology results for Cox have not yet been released.

Vallow reportedly believes she is “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020,” according to divorce documents Charles Vallow filed before his death.

Daybell has written several apocalyptic novels based loosely on theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both he and Vallow were involved in a group that promotes preparing for the biblical end times.

Rexburg police questioned Daybell and Vallow about the missing children in late November, and when detectives returned the next day for a follow-up interview they discovered the couple had left town.

She faces another Kauaihearing on March 2 for her extradition to Idaho.

According to court records, Johnson was arrested on Nov. 29, 2017. At that time, federal agents discovered six images of child pornography on his cellphone. After eight months of investigation, agents identified the minor victim as an 8-year-old girl. Agents also determined that Johnson had produced the images of child pornography with his cell phone. At the time that he did so, Johnson was required to register as a sex offender under federal and state law due to a prior rape conviction.

“The 60-year sentence imposed by Chief Judge Nye will ensure the community’s most vulnerable members, young children, are protected from future predatory behavior by Johnson,” U.S. Attorney Davis said. “The continued dedication and determination of federal agents to identify the victim in this case was nonpareil.”

“These heinous crimes against children must come to an end,” said Eben Roberts, Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Seattle. “The sentencing in this case represents how committed HSI and our partners are about removing dangerous predators from our streets. I could not be more proud of all of those involved in this case.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The case stems from October 2013 when Twin Falls police were called to a parking lot near Lowe’s, for a call about a suspicious vehicle. Police reported finding Johnson in the car with his pants unzipped, looking at images of girls in tight or revealing clothing. Police later reported finding child pornography on the phone.

The online sex offender registry shows that Johnson’s previous conviction was on charges of third-degree rape and third-degree sexual abuse in Clackamas County, Oregon, in August 2007.

“When the officer arrived he made contact with the resident and there were two large breed dogs at the door, barking,” according to the news release. “The occupant of the home opened the front door and was not able to contain or control the dogs. Both dogs came outside with one of the dogs barking and aggressively attacking the officer.”

The officer reportedly pushed the dog back with his foot, attempting to keep it away, but the officer claims the dogs charged at him.

“The officer was backed up against the garage and could not go back any further as the dog jumped at the officer attempting to bite him. With the dog coming at him a second time he fired one round from his duty pistol, striking the dog,” according to the release. “The shot was fired away from the front entryway and facing down into an empty yard.”

The occupant of the home advised that she did not mean for the dog to go after the officer and that she was watching it for a friend, police said in the news release.

The dog was taken to a veterinarian clinic by a private party after it was located. Christina Logan said in a public Facebook post that the animal, named Rebel, was simply jumping up to greet the officer when he fired his weapon in front of her children, shooting the animal.

“The Nampa Police Department is continuing to review information and video related to this incident, as we do with all use of force reports or discharge of a firearm by an officer. These situations are never easy and is a lose-lose situation as the officer or the dog may be hurt.” The Idaho Statesman reached out to Logan for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

But that was before she reportedly declared herself a god sent to prepare the world for an imminent apocalypse. Before three untimely deaths of people surrounding her. Before her children went missing.

Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and his 17-year-old sister, Tylee Ryan, haven’t been seen since September. After fleeing from Idaho to Hawaii during an investigation, Vallow, 46, was arrested Thursday on charges of felony child abandonment — a milestone in a case that spans several states and is filled with bizarre twists.

“If somebody two years ago would have said this is what’s going to happen with Lori, I never would have believed it,” JJ’s grandfather, Larry Woodcock, said last month when he announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the children. “I don’t know what caused this conversion. You don’t go from being mother of the year, mother of a special needs child, to being a person who won’t even tell you where she is at, where he is, where they are at.”

“There’s a timeline change with Lori, and it started a few years ago,” he said.

Some of the timeline is detailed in newly released court documents from investigators in the rural Idaho city of Rexburg. The documents paint a bleak picture, with police saying Vallow repeatedly lied about her children’s whereabouts, their belongings had been found in an abandoned storage unit and there has been no sign of them for months.

Vallow appeared Friday in court in Hawaii, where her attorney couldn’t get her $5 million bail lowered. Defense attorney Daniel Hempey said police knew she was on Kauai and had a lawyer who’s offered to turn her in.

“Instead she was arrested and media was calling us all day,” Hempey said. “It seems like it was a made-for-media event at taxpayer expense.”

She faces a hearing March 2 on extradition to Idaho.

Of Vallow’s children, Tylee disappeared first, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Rexburg police Lt. Ron Ball. The teen went on a day trip to nearby Yellowstone National Park with her mom, little brother and uncle. A National Park Service camera captured her image at the entrance, and a photo from Vallow’s computer shows the girl made it inside the park.

But ever since? No trace, Ball wrote.

Then JJ vanished, the document says. He was enrolled in an elementary school for a few weeks in September and last seen there, shortly before Vallow told employees that she was going to homeschool the boy.

“We have not been able to find any witnesses who have seen J.V. since September 24, 2019,” Ball wrote.

Investigations into strange circumstances surrounding Vallow didn’t begin in September. Her husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed in July at the family’s suburban Phoenix home by her brother, Alex Cox.

The Vallows’ marriage had been crumbling. Charles had filed for divorce, saying in court documents that he feared she would kill him and that she’d developed strange, doomsday-cult-like beliefs, reportedly calling herself “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020.”

Cox told police the shooting was in self-defense, that Charles Vallow had come at him with a baseball bat. Police investigated, but the case didn’t go far before Cox died of unknown causes in his Arizona home in December. Toxicology reports done as part of an autopsy have not yet been released.

Lori Vallow moved to Idaho with the kids. She got an apartment in Rexburg in early September and reportedly continued spending time with an old acquaintance, Chad Daybell.

He’s a publisher and author who has written several books loosely based on theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, largely focused on doomsday scenarios. He also posted podcasts for an online organization aimed at church members, with an interest in preparing for biblical end times.

Lori Vallow participated in some of the podcasts, and the two had grown close.

Daybell’s longtime wife, Tammy Daybell, died in October. The obituary said the 49-year-old fit school librarian died of natural causes, and the family declined an autopsy before she was buried in Utah. About two weeks later, Chad Daybell and Vallow married on a Hawaii beach.

Meanwhile, JJ’s grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock of Louisiana, were increasingly worried about the kids. Regular phone calls with JJ grew infrequent, then stopped in August. They couldn’t get answers.

Idaho authorities were growing suspicious after hearing that Daybell had married so soon after his wife’s unexpected death. They exhumed Tammy Daybell’s body. The results of toxicology and other testing have not yet been released.

In late November, police in Rexburg showed up at Vallow’s apartment to check on the children at the grandparents’ request. Investigators spoke with Cox and Daybell and got a strange reaction, documents say.

“Chad acted as if he didn’t know Lori very well and stated he didn’t know her phone number. Alex told the detectives that J.V. was with his grandma, Kay Woodcock, in Louisiana which was not likely to be true due to the fact that Kay was the individual who first called in a missing child report,” Ball wrote.

The lieutenant said Vallow told him that the boy was in Arizona with a friend. That friend told police that JJ hadn’t been to her house for months.

When Rexburg police returned, Vallow’s home was empty.

The investigation has turned up disturbing findings but no sign of the children. Their belongings, including JJ’s winter clothes, were found in an abandoned storage unit in Rexburg last month. Police searching Vallow’s apartment found medicine prescribed to JJ, who has autism, but it was dated January 2019, and the prescription has never been filled in Idaho, records show.

Daybell and Vallow were living in Hawaii by then, in the same town where she and her first husband resided years earlier. Police searched the couple’s house and car last month and found the children’s birth certificates, Tylee’s bank card and JJ’s iPad but say there’s no evidence the children ever arrived in Hawaii.

Vallow was ordered by a judge to produce the kids to Idaho authorities last month, but she didn’t comply. Police asked for an arrest warrant this week, calling the couple a “flight risk.”

“Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell have significant financial resources. I am aware that Chad Daybell received at least $430,000 in life insurance proceeds upon the death of his wife Tammy. As such, Lori and Chad have resources sufficient to help them travel and hide from law enforcement and the court,” Ball wrote.

An email to Daybell was not immediately answered.

———

Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.

Pearce must serve one day in jail for each count and five days of inmate labor detail in lieu of 29 days of jail time, according to a copy of the Payette County judgments.

Another 20 days of jail time are discretionary time that could be imposed if he were to violate his probation.

The judge granted Pearce a withheld judgment, meaning that if he is compliant with his probation, he could go back before the judge and ask to have to convictions dismissed from his record.

The animal cruelty investigation began after the Payette County Sheriff’s Office found the horses dead on his property near an empty water trough in Payette in July 2018. He told investigators that he had left a hose running in the 1,000-gallon trough, and police found evidence that it was inadvertently shut off by another party, according to previous reports.

However, law enforcement previously said that Pearce was negligent for not checking on the animals. The horses were found in a pasture near Hurd Lane, just south of Northeast 10th Avenue.

Pearce must also pay $5,000 in fines, but $4,000 of that was suspended by the judge. Any violation of his probation could result in the judge forbidding him from owning or caring for horses, according to a copy of the judgment.

Police said he killed 76-year-old Darline Queen, who was also a resident. Another resident, 79-year-old Juanita Pressler, was injured. Former resident Kathleen Schlemmer, 58, was visiting and was also wounded.

Authorities said the injured women were in stable condition at hospitals.

A police officer who responded to the shooting was also shot, but authorities declined to provide details. The officer was treated at a hospital and released.

Police said Schlemmer in 2019 had a protective order against Nordberg, but it had expired.

Caldwell Police Chief Frank Wyant said Nordberg had disputes with Queen and Schlemmer for at least a year, at least partly involving Nordberg having the volume too loud on his TV sometimes.

Wyant said the bad feelings continued.

Wyant said Nordberg used a walker and was crossing a catwalk above an area where the women were sitting when they had some kind of an exchange.

Wyant said Nordberg retrieved a 9 mm handgun, apparently from his apartment, and returned to the catwalk where he fired five times at the women sitting below. Wyant said each woman was hit with one shot, while two shots missed.

Authorities say police arrived within three minutes, but released few other details. Wyant said Nordberg didn’t fire at officers.

“He did not exchange gunfire with police,” Wyant said

Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue said the Caldwell police officer who was injured received a gunshot wound. He declined to provide more information. A team that investigates officer-involved shootings has been assembled and is investigating. Two Caldwell police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave.

Police said Nordberg’s body was found on the second floor in a common room adjacent to his apartment.

Caldwell is part of the Boise metropolitan area and has a population of about 54,000.

Lori Vallow, 46, also known as Lori Daybell, was arrested Thursday on an Idaho warrant and was being held on $5 million bail, according to police on the island of Kauai. Vallow has been charged with two felony counts of child abandonment.

Seven-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan have not been seen since September. Police in the city of Rexburg, Idaho, have said they "strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger."

Newly released court documents in eastern Idaho paint a bleak picture, with police saying Vallow lied several times about her children's whereabouts and that JJ's winter clothes and other belongings have been found in an abandoned storage unit. Rexburg police Lt. Ron Ball wrote in a court document filed this week that Vallow's bank account shows no sign that she is providing money to anyone to care for the kids.

Tylee hasn't been seen since Sept. 8, Ball wrote. JJ was enrolled at a school for three weeks and was last seen alive there, shortly before Vallow told school workers that she was going to start homeschooling the boy.

"We have not been able to find any witnesses who have seen J.V. since September 24, 2019," Ball wrote in a probable cause affidavit.

Police also have said Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, have lied about the children's whereabouts and even their existence. Daybell told someone that Vallow had no kids, and she told another person that her daughter had died more than a year earlier, authorities said.

Vallow must be extradited before she can face charges in Idaho, a process that often takes weeks. Kauai police said in a statement that she was expected to appear in court Friday but provided no other details.

"Vallow abandoned her two minor children, delayed law enforcement's attempts to locate her children, and encouraged another individual to delay law enforcement's attempts to locate her children," referring to a friend of Vallow's in Arizona, according to a statement from Madison County, Idaho, prosecutor Rob Wood's office.

Vallow's attorney, Sean Bartholick of Rexburg, Idaho, did not respond to phone and social media messages seeking comment. An email message to Daybell seeking comment was not immediately answered.

Vallow also is accused of disobeying a court order that required her to bring her children to Idaho authorities last month.

The tangled case includes investigations into three deaths. Vallow's estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed in Phoenix last July by her brother, Alex Cox. Cox, who claimed the shooting was in self-defense, died of unknown causes in December.

Lori Vallow moved her family to Idaho in late August. In October, Chad Daybell's wife, Tammy Daybell, died of what her obituary said was natural causes. When Chad Daybell married Vallow roughly two weeks after Tammy's death, law enforcement became suspicious and had her remains exhumed.

Test results on Tammy Daybell's remains and toxicology results for Cox have not yet been released.

Vallow reportedly believes she is "a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming in July 2020," according to divorce documents Charles Vallow filed before his death.

Chad Daybell has written several apocalyptic novels based loosely on theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both were involved in a group that promotes preparing for the biblical end times.

Police questioned Daybell and Vallow about the missing children in late November, and the couple left town before police returned the next day.

In December, Idaho authorities asked police on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for help finding the couple. On Jan. 26, Kauai police served a search warrant on a rented vehicle and condo the couple were renting in the resort town of Princeville.

Law enforcement plans to hold a news conference Friday about Vallow's arrest and court appearance, police spokeswoman Coco Zickos said.

Idaho prosecutors said Vallow is charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children and misdemeanor charges of resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime and contempt of court. The felony charges carry maximum prison sentences of 14 years in prison.

Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan haven’t been seen since late September, and police in Rexburg have said they “strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee’s lives are in danger.”

Police have said Lori Vallow and her new husband Chad Daybell have lied about the children’s whereabouts and even about their very existence, with Chad Daybell allegedly telling one person that Lori Vallow had no kids, and Lori Vallow allegedly telling another person that her daughter had died more than a year earlier.

The tangled case spans multiple states and includes investigations into three separate deaths. Lori Vallow’s estranged husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed in Phoenix in July by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox. Cox, who claimed the shooting was in self-defense, died of unknown causes in December.

In August, Lori Vallow moved her family to Idaho. In October, Chad Daybell’s wife Tammy Daybell died of what her obituary said was natural causes. When Chad Daybell married Lori Vallow just two weeks after Tammy’s death, law enforcement became suspicious and ultimately had Tammy Daybell’s remains exhumed.

The test results on Tammy Daybell’s remains and on Alex Cox have not yet been released.

Vallow failed to comply with a court order to produce her children before authorities on Jan. 30 in Madison County.

She has been charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children, police said. She is also charged with arrests and seizures – resisting or obstructing officers, criminal solicitation to commit a crime, and contempt of court – willful disobedience of court process or order, police said.

In December, Rexburg police asked Kauai police for help in locating the couple. On Jan. 26, Kauai police served a search warrant on a rented vehicle and condo they were renting in Princeville, a resort town on Kauai’s north shore.

A hearing date has yet to be determined to give Vallow an opportunity to waive or fight extradition to Idaho.

“The children were last seen in Idaho and there is no indication that they are on Kauai,” police said in a statement. “There are currently no criminal charges against Vallow on Kauai.”

Lori Vallow’s attorney, Sean Bartholick of Rexburg, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The case also involves rumors of a cult. Lori Vallow reportedly believes she is “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020,” according to divorce documents Charles Vallow filed before his death. Chad Daybell has written several apocalyptic novels based loosely on Mormon religious theology. Both were involved in a group that promotes preparedness for the biblical end-times.

Police questioned Daybell and Vallow about the missing kids in late November, and the couple left town before police returned the next day. On Saturday, they were stopped by investigators in Hawaii, served with the order to produce the kids, and then searched.

Fifth District Court Judge Roger Harris ordered a sentence of one to three years in prison, suspended the sentence and placed Fields on three years supervised probation. The judge ordered 10 days in jail, suspended for discretionary use by the probation officer and 100 hours of community service. The court also imposed and then suspended a fine of $1,000. Fields is also ordered to pay $608 in restitution to the Idaho Department of Insurance, $185 in restitution to insurance provider Sentry Insurance Company, and court costs.

An investigation revealed Fields purchased an auto insurance policy shortly after she was involved in an accident. She filed a claim with her insurance company days after the accident and provided a false accident time in order to receive coverage she was not entitled to receive.

Deputy Attorney General Jessica Cafferty in the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case. The Idaho Department of Insurance investigated.

Golden eagles get their name from the golden feathers on the back of their head and neck. The rest of their body is brown. Unlike most birds of prey, golden eagles have feathers on their legs, all the way down to their talons.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call Citizens Against Poaching (CAP) at 800-632-5999 or the Idaho Fish and Game Magic Valley Regional Office at 208-324-4359. Callers may remain anonymous and information leading to an arrest qualifies for a CAP reward.

Rhoton initially was charged with failing to report a death, and investigators then determined that his mother’s pension and Social Security benefits were deposited into a bank account he controlled. That led to the other charges, prosecutors said.

Rhoton will be sentenced at 9 a.m. April 30, and he faces up to 19 years in prison, according to court documents.

Rhoton was arrested last June after authorities found his mother’s body in an SUV a little over a mile from his home. Eagle police officers and Ada County Sheriff’s Office deputies had served a search warrant and found that the woman’s body had been moved from the house recently. It was not known exactly how long she had been dead, and authorities said that Rhoton had been lying to family members about his mother’s well-being and whereabouts.

Fisher was arrested Tuesday without incident in Twin Falls.

According to court documents, Fisher walked up to a bank teller’s station at D.L. Evans Bank on Overland Avenue on Feb. 10 and gave the teller a hand-written note demanding money.

The teller, who told police the robber “did not appear nervous,” gave him $1,300.

After Fisher was arrested in Twin Falls, he was detained at the Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center in Burley and interviewed by detectives.

Police said Fisher admitted to planning the bank robbery starting about a week prior to the event.

“Kasey stated he would never hurt anyone but would always write something on the note to scare the person,” court documents say.

After the teller gave him the money, he walked back to a waiting van.

Police said previously that Fisher is a convicted felon and spent several years in prison for bank robberies.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set at 10:30 a.m. March 3.

Recently released photos of their November wedding show the couple laughing near the ocean in Hawaii and Chad strumming a ukulele — just a couple weeks after his wife of 29 years died “in her sleep,” according to Chad’s account to law enforcement.

The beach visits, the errand running, the happy photos — all seem to have struck a nerve with the public. The story of Lori and Chad, their respective dead spouses, and her missing children has captivated the nation.

In the last 220 days, Lori’s brother Alex Cox killed her husband Charles following a family argument in July, Chad’s seemingly healthy wife died in her sleep in October in a manner police are calling “suspicious,” and Cox, also young and apparently healthy, died mysteriously on a bathroom floor in December.

And of course, Lori’s two minor children, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, have disappeared. No one has seen the children since September. Neither Chad nor Lori reported them missing. Shortly after Rexburg police questioned the couple in late November about the children’s whereabouts, Lori and Chad fled to Hawaii. Earlier this month a storage unit full of the children’s belongings — the kind of things you’d think they’d want in their new home — was found in chilly Rexburg, thousands of miles from Hawaii where Chad and Lori have lived for more than a month.

As the public continues to learn about strange circumstance after strange circumstance surrounding the couple, many believe the deaths and disappearances were orchestrated by Chad and Lori.

If that’s the case, why haven’t they been arrested?

The answer, according to legal experts, is most likely a lack of evidence. That lack of evidence is primarily due to law enforcement’s inability to locate Tylee and J.J. Until police can prove something criminal has happened to the children, Chad and Lori are looking at nothing more than misdemeanors for their failure to cooperate in the investigation. A judge may hold off on the arduous and expensive extradition process following Lori’s potential contempt of court charge until law enforcement finds evidence for more serious charges, said Samuel Newton, assistant professor of law at the University of Idaho.

Lori was ordered to physically present J.J. and Tylee to Madison County officials by Jan. 30 but failed to do so.

The Post Register looked to legal experts and past cases to try to figure out, should Tylee and J.J. remain unfound, what charges could Lori and Chad face in the future in a variety of possible scenarios and what evidence would police need to bring charges in those scenarios.

The disappearance of Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow:

Scenario 1: Chad and Lori were not actively responsible for the disappearance of Tylee and J.J., but they did not alert authorities when the children went missing.

Possible charges: Perjury for giving false information. Police say Vallow and Daybell “indicated (J.J) was staying with a family friend in Arizona.” Rexburg police said they investigated and did not find that to be true. According to Idaho law, this crime is considered a misdemeanor. There is no Idaho law requiring parents to alert authorities when children go missing.

Evidence police would need to charge Lori or Chad: Police likely have enough evidence to prove Lori provided false information concerning J.J.’s whereabouts.

Famous similar case: In a case that received national attention, Caylee Anthony’s mother, Casey Anthony, never reported her daughter missing. “Caylee’s Law,” which has been enacted in 10 states, makes it a felony for parents to fail to report their child as missing. Anthony was eventually acquitted of all charges except four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement. Anthony was sentenced to one year and $1,000 for each misdemeanor count, for a total of four years in prison and $4,000 in fines. Caylee’s Law does not exist in Idaho.

Scenario 2: Lori and Chad have hidden the children.

Possible charges: Contempt of court

Evidence police would need to charge Lori or Chad: Police likely have enough evidence to prove contempt of court. On Jan. 25, law enforcement in Princeville, Hawaii, served Vallow with a court order demanding that she “physically produce Tylee and J.J. to the Idaho Department of Welfare in Rexburg, Idaho, or to the Rexburg Police within five days of being served with the order.” Vallow did not comply with that order and could now be found by a Madison County judge to be in contempt of court. Per Idaho law, a misdemeanor for contempt carries a penalty of an up to $5,000 fine, a maximum of five days in jail, or both.

Famous similar case: In Baltimore City Department of Social Services v. Bouknight, Jacqueline L. Bouknight, of Baltimore, was ordered to produce her child in court. She claimed to have left her son with a friend but would not reveal anything more. In a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Bouknight claimed that forcing her to disclose her son’s location violated her Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate. The Supreme Court ruled the Fifth Amendment does not “protect a custodian from refusing to produce his or her child pursuant to a court order.” Despite this ruling, Bouknight refused to produce her son. A Baltimore judge continued to find Bouknight in contempt of court for seven years; she spent those seven years in jail. After that, she was released and has never been convicted for further charges regarding her son. Her son has never been seen since.

Scenario 3: Chad and/or Lori are responsible for the death of Tylee and J.J., but police cannot find their bodies.

Possible charges: Murder

Evidence: According to Thomas A. DiBiase, a former federal homicide prosecutor and expert on “no body” murder cases, in cases when there is no body but police believe a murder was convicted, evidence is most likely to come from forensic evidence such as blood, hair, or fingerprints, confessions to family or friends, or confessions to police. When none of those are available, Alton D. Kenney an attorney and former prosecutor who has gotten convictions on two “no body” cases, said it is possible to prove victims are dead through what he calls “negative inference.” This involves proving all expected normal routines are not being met. For example, a teenager may suddenly stop all social media activity, stop speaking to all friends and relatives, stop continuing to pursue life milestones such as getting a driver’s license or applying for a job. These negative inferences may convince a jury that a missing individual has died. Then, the court can prove someone is responsible for that death. According to Kenney, however, cases involving negative inference take a long time to prove and police may wait a full year before bringing charges.

Famous similar case: More than 50 people have been convicted of murder without a body being found. However, when police lack forensic evidence or a confession, it becomes more difficult. When Susan Powell went missing in 2009, her husband Josh Powell claimed she had abandoned the family. Despite a mountain of strange circumstances surrounding Josh, he was never charged with her murder. In 2012, Josh killed himself and his two sons. Since Susan’s body has never been recovered, she has still not been declared dead.

Charges involving the deaths of Charles Vallow, Tammy Daybell, or Alex Cox: All three deaths are still under investigation. Authorities are still waiting on autopsy results for Tammy Daybell and Cox. The lack of charges may mean authorities have not found evidence as of yet to prove Chad or Lori were involved. Autopsy results may provide more information.

Marsalis’ case received widespread media attention in the mid-2000s, when prosecutors in Pennsylvania accused him of using the online dating site Match.com to meet potential victims. In those cases, prosecutors said Marsalis would often pretend to be an astronaut, surgeon or CIA agent to lure his dates, then drug them and sexually assault them. Marsalis, however, maintained the encounters were consensual. Juries in Philadelphia ultimately acquitted Marsalis of eight counts of rape, but convicted him of two counts of sexual assault. He was serving a 21-year sentence on that conviction when he was extradited to Idaho in 2008.

In the Idaho case, prosecutors said Marsalis was working at the Sun Valley Resort in 2005 when he drugged a coworker during a night of drinking, brought her back to his condominium and raped her. The woman testified that she woke the next day with little memory of the night before but realized she’d been sexually assaulted because she was bruised and sore and had some of her clothing on inside out. She went to police to report the rape and underwent sexual assault testing so authorities could gather evidence.

In that trial, Marsalis again contended that the sexual encounter was consensual, and claimed the woman must have experienced a blackout, a type of alcohol-induced temporary amnesia. The jury disagreed, however, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison for rape, saying he would be eligible for parole after serving at least 15 years.

In his appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court, Marsalis claimed his Idaho trial attorney was ineffective because he didn’t bring in an expert witness to testify about the scientific basis behind his “blackout defense.” He also said the attorney should have challenged the testimony of the state’s expert witness who testified about his and the victim’s blood alcohol levels. Marsalis also claimed that the attorney failed to present some favorable eyewitness testimony during the trial.

The unanimous Idaho Supreme Court said the eyewitness’ supposedly favorable testimony wouldn’t have had an impact on the case because it didn’t actually contradict the testimony of other witnesses, who said the victim was so intoxicated she nearly passed out during a shuttle ride back to the employee housing at the resort, and that she was unable to exit the vehicle on her own so Marsalis had to help her.

But the high court did say Marsalis should be given the chance to prove in court if his attorney was ineffective for failing to challenge the expert witness and failing to hire an expert to talk about the blackout defense.

At that point, Climer turned down into Rock Creek Park, turned around and came back up the hill, toward a patrol car, which he then hit. The officer said Climer then drove directly toward a sheriff deputy’s patrol car, barely missing it.

Police tried to hit and pin the car in the parking lot, but the driver managed to escape and headed east on U.S. 30 toward Twin Falls. When Climer reached the area near the Dunes Motel, police called off the chase. But soon after, police saw Climer drive into the Exhale Vapors parking lot. Police sped to block the parking lot exit, “in order to stop the driver of the Explorer who had already shown complete disregard for other people’s safety,” the police report said. “I was concerned that he would hurt someone and knew that we were within one mile of two different schools that were getting out at any time.”

The officer ran his patrol car into Climer’s Ford, pinning it against a tree and a fence. A deputy also ran into the Ford. Police told Climer to get out of the vehicle at gunpoint. Police eventually pulled Climer from the Explorer and arrested him.

He was arraigned on the charges on Feb. 18, according to court records.

Cassia County Sheriff deputies responded Saturday to a 911 call reporting an active fight in the middle of the road at 14th Street and Elba Avenue in Burley.

When they arrived there were three men and a woman arguing in the street.

One of the men told police that Chiguihon-Estrada had been staying at his home and had been asked to leave because of his drinking, a police report says.

Two men stepped in to keep him from further injuring the woman, they said. One of the men told police that Chiguihon-Estrada had been staying at his home and had been asked to leave because of his drinking. The man said Chiguihon-Estrada, was intoxicated, became angry and hit the woman in her face, causing her lip to split. He then picked up a knife and threatened one of the men with it.

Chiguihon-Estrada then took a vehicle from the man’s house without permission and left.

The other three people got in a vehicle and found Chiguihon-Estrada and pulled their vehicle in front of the one he was driving to keep him from leaving.

Chiguihon-Estrada got out of the vehicle and tried to fight with the woman again, and the two men again intervened. One man told police Chiguihon-Estrada then hit the other man a couple of times in the face.

At one point, the second man ran to a nearby house and knocked on the door to ask for help.

The man said Chiguihon-Estrada picked up a pair of “large hedge shears” and told the woman he was going to kill her.

The two men wrestled the shears from him and threw them into the back of a truck, where they were found by officers.

A preliminary hearing is set in the case at 10:30 a.m., March 3 in Cassia County Magistrate Court.

Cassia County Sheriff Jay Heward said Wednesday that Fisher was from out of state, but he could not disclose his state of residence.

Fisher was arrested Feb. 18 without incident in Twin Falls and is now at the Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center, a statement from the sheriff’s office said.

Fisher is a convicted felon and spent several years in federal prison for previous bank robberies, the statement said.

Detectives followed numerous leads and tips from the community that resulted in his arrest.

Police were called to the south Burley branch of D.L. Evans Bank after a man asked an employee for money and fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police said before he left the bank, the man sprayed an unknown substance into the air, possibly to deter anyone from following him out the door.

The Cassia County Sheriff’s Office said the U.S. Marshal’s Office, District of Idaho, and the Twin Falls Police Department helped with the case.

Photos: Magic Valley’s Most Wanted

Cox said he requested a police presence at the school Tuesday to “ensure students feel safe.”

Anyone with information about the threats is asked to contact the school principal, Joe Fairchild, or Cox.

It ended with a Filer Police car and a Sheriff’s Office SUV pinning in a red SUV at the corner of Addison Avenue West and Washington Street North in Twin Falls.

Filer police said there were no injuries to any department personnel.

No other information was immediately available.

Police say Leija helped the girl sneak out of her house and was giving the girl a ride to a friend’s house in July when he sexually assaulted and raped her.

A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday in Minidoka County Magistrate Court.

John Tate Hansen was driving a 1995 Kenworth tractor pulling a white farm trailer registered to Hansen Quality Jerseys, police say, when he ran into the back of the school bus driven by Jacqueline Ruth Larson.

A mirror on the passenger’s side of the truck went through the driver’s side windows of the bus and hit a girl in the head. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Another student was later taken to the hospital by her mother.

Hansen told police he was driving north on Meridian Road near 400 North when the school bus pulled out in front of him, and he did not have time to stop. Hansen said he did not know what his speed was at the time of the crash because the speedometer in the truck was broken. The truck was not loaded at the time of the crash.

Hansen said he saw the bus pull up to the stop sign, stop very briefly, then pull out in front of him.

Larson said she was eastbound on 400 North when she stopped at the stop sign at Meridian Road. She told police she did not see anyone approaching from either direction. She turned north on Meridian and was preparing to drop a student off and had activated the yellow warning lights when the bus was hit.

Hazel Marriott, an aide on the bus, said she saw the yellow warning lights activate on the overhead display prior to the crash and had pointed it out to the student next to her.

After officers performed several crash scene reconstruction calculations, they determined that if Hansen had been going the posted speed limit of 55 mph or slower, he would have had more than enough time and distance to “perceive the threat and slow or stop prior to the collision,” the report reads.

The lawsuit accused Box Elder County, Oneida County in Idaho and the Utah Highway Patrol of false arrest, excessive force and illegal search and seizure.

The pair were arrested Dec. 14, 2016, as part of an investigation into a robbery earlier that day in Malad, Idaho.

McFarlin and Fox said they were arrested while driving on Interstate 15 from Idaho to California for a university holiday break. Fox is a former player and McFarlin is still a member of the school's football team.

Despite presenting alibis demonstrating they had not robbed the bank, authorities arrested the men because a bank teller said the robber was black and used a white car, the lawsuit said.

Both the men are black.

McFarlin’s car was white but otherwise did not match the description of the car used in the robbery, the lawsuit said.

The pair received a separate $21,000 settlement from the state of Utah on behalf of the highway patrol in December and Fox accepted an undisclosed settlement from Oneida County in May.

Box Elder County attorneys could not be immediately be reached for comment.

Box Elder County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dale Ward was contacted but said he had not yet been notified about the settlement.

The state then asked the full appeals court to reconsider the case — but the court voted against the move this week.

However, several judges expressed their concern Monday with the underlying ruling directing the state to pay for gender reassignment surgery for Edmo. Several others dissented completely with the ruling not to reconsider the case.

Edmo has been housed in a men’s prison since she first began serving time on a charge of sexually abusing a child younger than 16 in 2012. She is scheduled for release in July of 2021.

She sued in 2017, contending that the state’s refusal to provide her with gender confirmation surgery causes her severe distress because she has gender dysphoria, a condition that occurs when the incongruity between a person’s assigned gender and their gender identity is so severe that it impairs their ability to function.

Edmo’s attorney, Lori Rifkin, said Edmo’s suffering was so great that she twice tried to cut off her own testicles in her prison cell. But attorneys for the Idaho Department of Correction and the state’s contracted medical provider, Corizon, have contended that several physicians who have examined Edmo have determined that gender confirmation surgery could do more harm than good, in part because it could exacerbate her other mental health conditions and because she hasn’t lived in a non-prison setting as a woman for at least a year.

Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, joined by eight others, said Monday the three-judge panel’s conclusion that any alternative course of treatment would be “cruel and unusual punishment” is “as unjustified as it is unprecedented.”

Generally, a finding of cruel and unusual punishment requires that a court find doctors acted with deliberate indifference to the inmate’s serious medical needs. That standard has been applied to inmate requests for back surgery, kidney transplants, joint replacements and other medical procedures, O’Scannlain noted.

“Yet suddenly the request for sex-reassignment surgery — and the panel’s closing appeal to what it calls the ‘increased social awareness’ of the needs and wants of transgender citizens — effects a revolution in our law!” O’Scannlain wrote.

The ruling substituted the medical conclusions of federal judges for the clinical judgments of prisoners’ treating physicians and “constitutionally enshrined precise and partisan treatment criteria in a rapidly changing and controversial area of medical practice,” the judge wrote.

O’Scannlain also noted that the prison’s medical treatment decision for Edmo was reviewed and supported by several physicians. The prison doctor believed Edmo’s other mental health disorders weren’t sufficiently stabilized, and worried that the stressful process of surgery and transition could cause those mental health disorders to worsen or even cause new mental disorders.

“I do not know whether sex-reassignment surgery will ameliorate or exacerbate Adree Edmo’s suffering. Fortunately, the Constitution does not ask federal judges to put on white coats and decide vexed questions of psychiatric medicine,” he wrote.

Idaho officials now must decide if they will provide the surgery to Edmo or ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.

If the request is made and the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, Edmo could be released from prison around the same time the court issues its decision.

Thompson said Davis would be eligible for parole after serving three years, however.

The Post Register reports Davis was arrested in July 2018 and charged with two counts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16. Prosecutors later filed additional intimidation charges after they said jail recordings showed he called the victims’ mother from jail and told her to flee the county with the children and to convince the children to “clam up.”

Prosecutors later dropped the lewd conduct and other charges in exchange for Davis’ guilty plea to battery with the intent to commit a serious felony and intimidating a witness.

Davis will be required to register as a sex offender after his release from prison.

A white man entered the bank at 2281 Overland Ave. at 11:22 a.m. Feb. 10 and asked for money from a bank teller.

The suspect is described as being in his mid-30s to 50s and was wearing a red stocking cap with three stripes that might be a San Francisco 49ers hat. He was also wearing a dark-colored jacket and what appeared to be gray sweat pants.

The sheriff’s office has released a photo of a red minivan, which they said is a “vehicle of interest.”

Warrell said the make and model of the vehicle are unknown.

After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the man fled east on foot. No weapons were seen, but as the suspect left the bank he sprayed an unknown substance in the bank.

Warrell said police suspect he may have done it to deter anyone from following him out the door.

If anyone has information on the suspect they should call the Cassia County Sheriff’s Office, 208-878-2251, or Crime Stoppers at 208-878-2900.

Magic Valley’s Most Wanted

Cassia County School District Spokeswoman Debbie Critchfield said law enforcement asked that students be kept inside at White Pine Elementary School and school officials chose to do the same at Dworshak as a precaution. Students will be allowed to go home at the previously scheduled early-release time.

Both schools are within a few blocks of the bank.

Parents of students at the schools received a text from the district saying the students are safe and will be kept inside as law enforcement deals with the non-school issue.

“No students were in danger, safety measures were a precaution at those schools,” the district posted on Facebook.

Warrell said the call for help from the bank came into dispatch at 11:22 a.m.

The suspect is a white man, in his mid-30s to 50s, Warrell said. He is wearing a red stocking cap with three white horizontal stripes that might be a San Francisco 49ers hat. He is wearing a dark-colored jacket and what appears to be gray sweat pants. Anyone with information on the suspect should call the Cassia County Sheriff’s Office, 208-878-2251, or Crime Stoppers, 208-878-2900.

“The suspect walked into the bank and demanded money from a bank employee,” Warrell said.

He received the money and fled east on foot.

“No weapons were seen, but as he left the bank he sprayed an unknown substance in the bank,” perhaps to prevent anyone from following him out the door, Warrell said.

Officers are still at the bank investigating.

Further details were not immediately available.

What Curtiss didn’t tell the reporter from The Oregonian newspaper in Portland was that he was stealing tens of thousands of dollars from clients of his company, Curtiss Property Management in Meridian.

Curtiss eventually was charged with 19 counts of felony grand theft, one for each of 19 victims. He pleaded guilty to one count in exchange for the dropping of the remaining 18. On Wednesday, an Ada County judge chided Curtiss for failing to take responsibility for what he had done and sentenced him to a year in jail and 14 years of probation.

Curtiss, 45, of Fruitland, a former police officer in North Idaho, pleaded guilty to one count of felony grand theft. In exchange, 18 other counts of grand theft were dismissed. He was charged with one count for each of the 19 victims in the case.

Michael Guy, a deputy Ada County prosecutor, told District Judge Peter Barton that Curtiss stole $109,000 in tenant rent payments, deposits and fees that he failed to pass along to owners of the rental properties he managed.

Defense attorney Sean Wynn said Curtiss stole about $49,000.

Addressing Barton, Curtiss did not apologize to the victims. He said simply he had “made some mistakes in my business.”

He told the judge in response to a question that he did not think he had committed a crime at the time he took the money. Upon reflection, he said what he did “was inappropriate.”

His client, Wynn said, was a changed man. Curtiss, who works as general manager of a Boise auto parts store, has taken business classes and has tried to better himself, Wynn said. He has also coached youth baseball, softball and soccer teams. Wynn described Curtiss and his wife as “pillars of the community.”

“All of this paints Mr. Curtiss as a changed man who is not the same person who was engaging in ... stealing and potentially intimidating folks,” Wynn said.

Each of the three property owner clients who spoke at the hearing said Curtiss falsely told them renter money had been deposited into their accounts. They said he quit taking their calls and did not respond to emails.

Daysha Zuber said her credit score suffered as a result of not being able to make her mortgage payments because of the withheld payments. She said her family had to pay a much higher interest rate when she and her husband bought a house two years ago.

Nicole Kindall said Curtiss bullied her and said he knew where she lived and that he had a “network of people who can take you down.”

Leslie Boyce, a Portland-area resident who contacted the Idaho Statesman in 2016 after seeing the story on Curtiss in The Oregonian, said she has suffered health problems from her dealings with Curtiss.

Boyce and her husband, Aaron, contracted with Curtiss in March 2013 to manage two fourplex apartment buildings they own on West Fairview Avenue. Within eight months, Curtiss stopped remitting rent month to the couple.

The couple sued and in 2015, and an Ada County judge awarded them $68,549. Curtiss has never paid them a dime, and Leslie Boyce said she doubts they’ll ever get paid.

“He has stolen far more than money,” Leslie Boyce told Barton. “He’s stolen time, energy, peace, health and trust in our justice system.”

After the Statesman published a story in March 2016 about Curtiss’ third bankruptcy and the lawsuits against him, other victims came forward. They pressed the Idaho Attorney General’s Office for an investigation. The Idaho State Police spent two years looking into the case before Curtiss was charged.

When he was arrested, authorities said Curtiss stole money from the 19 clients between 2013 and 2016. Guy, the prosecutor, said Curtiss funneled the money from his business into personal accounts that paid for vehicles, plane tickets, oral surgery, gasoline and meals at fast-food restaurants.

“He wanted to live in a manner higher than his means, and he just took people’s money to do it,” Guy said.

Wynn asked the judge to impose a withheld judgment, which would have allowed Curtiss eventually to wipe the conviction off his record if he followed the terms of his probation. He also asked Barton to allow Curtiss to be released from jail for work.

Barton rejected both requests and followed Guy’s recommendation.

Barton told Curtiss that he had minimized his criminal behavior in his remarks to the court. Barton asked three pointed questions before announcing his sentence.

“Did you commit the crime of grand theft?” Barton asked. “

“Yes, I did, your honor,” Curtiss replied.

“You stole the money?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“You’re a thief?”

Curtiss paused for four seconds without responding.

“Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Later, Barton said: “The crime you committed is egregious and was committed over a long length of time. You knew the victims you were stealing from, and you knew at the time your actions were wrong.”

Because of the felony conviction, Curtiss, who was often photographed holding rifles and other firearms, loses his right to bear arms.

The judge also imposed a condition that Curtiss inform any employer in writing of his conviction. The letter must then be filed with his probation officer.

He is also barred Curtiss from any job that involves handling money. He was also fined $5,000.

A hearing to determine how much Curtiss will be ordered to pay in restitution to his victims will be held March 23.

If he violates his probation, he faces a three-year fixed prison term and up to 11 additional years.

Curtiss had a string of legal problems before this conviction.

In 2016, he was fined $7,200 after he did not contest allegations he failed to carry unemployment compensation insurance for his employees.

Curtiss was also accused by members of 3% of Idaho of improperly spending $2,901 in donations earmarked for four men accused in the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff in Nevada. No charges were brought in that case, and the group later reorganized under different leadership.

In 2017, Curtiss pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace after pulling a gun on a process server who came to the house he was renting in Fruitland. He was originally charged with felony aggravated assault, which was downgraded after he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge.

He was ordered to write a letter of apology to the process server, which he did.

He is charged with two counts of rape, attempted strangulation, forcible penetration with a foreign object, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and battery through domestic violence. All of the charges are felonies.

Police responded to a Rupert home on Dec. 27 after a teenager called 911 and said Saunders had grabbed a woman, dragged her into a bedroom and was trying to muffle her cries for help, according to court documents.

When police arrived, they were met by a man, who they sent out of the room. The woman, who was visibly upset and fearful, looked at officers and said “please help me.”

There were six children in the home at the time, police said.

The woman, who said she was afraid of Saunders, did not immediately tell police the entire story, court records say.

She later told police that Saunders, who was visiting the area, had abused her several times over two months.

During a later police interview, the woman received a message from Saunders. With the woman’s permission, police responded to him posing as the woman and asked him why he’d held a knife to her throat.

The officer said Saunders answered that he’d done it to “control her.” The officer also wrote a message asking why Saunders ran a knife across her eyelid and he messaged back that he’d done it “to scare her into having sex with him.” When asked why he had sex with her when he knew she didn’t want it, he wrote that it was to give her “peace.”

No hearing dates in the case have been set.

Ibarra is a Mexican national who had previously been removed for illegal entry into the United States.

According to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, authorities working near the Santa Teresa station “discovered indications of a possible illegal entry. Agents on foot and on ATVs began to track the possible illegal entrants, and were able to catch up to the suspects, in spite of their attempts to conceal their efforts.”

The suspects reportedly put sponges on their feet, in effort to hide their footprints. Authorities found eight suspects, including Ibarra.

Ibarra will eventually be extradited back to Canyon County, according to the news release.