HomeMy Public PortalAboutAutomobile Accidents: Highway 95:td ,(Ye u Oc. t 10/ H9i
U.S. 95 wreck kills all three
in family
BY JEANNE SEOL
The Star -News
All three members of a Moscow family
were killed Sunday night in a collision on
U.S. 95 north of New Meadows after a car
failed to yield at a stop sign and crashed
into the family's station wagon.
Dennis Barnett, 21, formerly of New
Meadows, his wife, Kristina Barnett, 20,
and their seven -month old son, Justin
Barnett, were all pronounced dead at the
scene at 9:04 p.m., Idaho State Police said.
Phe accident occurred a little more than
two years after Dennis Barnett's sister,
Shanna, 15, was killed in an auto accident
east of New Meadows.
The Barnetts were driving south on U.S.
95 four miles north of New Meadows in a
1985 Celebrity station wagon when they
were hit broadside by a vehicle driven by
Douglas Dixon, 36, of New Meadows,
police said.
Dixon's car was traveling west on Circle
C Lane, or "Zim's Road," and did not stop
at the road's intersection with U.S. 95,
police said. Dixon's 1995 Chevrolet pickup
collided with the Barnett vehicle and pushed
it off the highway through a fence and into
a pasture, police said.
Dixon was not injured in the accident
and was arrested a short time later at a
nearby residence after he left the scene,
Idaho State Police said.
Dixon was arraigned Monday in Adams
County Magistrate's Court on three counts
of felony vehicular manslaughter and one
felony count of leaving the scene of an
accident, court officials said.
He is being held in the Adams County
Jail on $200,000 bond and will appear at a
preliminary hearing at the courthouse in
Council on Friday at 3 p.m.
Dixon is charged in the court complaint
of causing the Barnetts' death by "driving
under the influence of alcohol and striking
the (Barnett) vehicle," court officials said.
Police said that Dennis and Kristina
Barnett were not wearing seat belts. Justin
Barnett was in a child seat that was belted
into the front seat. Dixon was not wearing
a seat belt but the airbag in his pickup did
inflate, police reports said.
Local services for the three family mem-
bers will be held starting at 3:30 p.m. today
at Meadows Valley High School. Dennis
Barnett was a 1993 graduate of Meadows
-Valley High School.
In July 1994, Dennis Barnett's sister,
Shanna Barnett, was killed as she was
driving a car on Idaho 55 near old Mead-
ows.
Her car collided head-on with a car
driven by Claude Hart, 81, of Fruitland.
Hart later pleaded guilty to a felony charge
of vehicular manslaughter.
Hart was given a suspended 10-year
prison sentence, 10 years probation, 30
days in the Payette County Jail, a 10-year
driver's license revocation and was or-
dered to conduct monthly programs to warn
senior citizens and other motorists not to
drive if they are sleepy or otherwise unable
to drive.
Dennis and Shanna Barnett were the
children of Cliff and Debbie Barnett of
New Meadows.
DENNIS MICHAEL BARNETT
KRISTINA LYN OLSON
BARNETT
JUSTIN WYATT BARNETT
Dennis Michael Barnett, 21
Kristina Lyn Olson Barnett, 20, and
Justin Wyatt Barnett, 7 months, of
Moscow, were killed in an automo-
bile accident Sunday, Oct. 6, 1996
north of New Meadows.
Services will be conducted at 3:301
p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Mead-
ows Valley High School, with Pastor
David McGarrah officiating and un-
der the direction of the Heikkila Fu-
neral Chapel, McCall. Memorial ser-
vices will be conducted 2 p.m. PT
Friday, Oct.11, in the Moscow Church
of the Nazarene.
Dennis was born April 17,1975, in
McCall and had lived most of his life
in New Meadows. He attended and
graduated from Meadows Valley High
School. He studied drafting at LCSC
in Lewiston for two years, where he
met his wife, Kristina.
Dennis enjoyed hunting, fishing,
basketball and spending time with his
family. He was always outgoing and
a friend to everyone he met. Dennis
and Kristina were married on Sept.
30, 1995 and their son, Justin, was
born March 10, 1996. They lived in
Moscow.
Dennis was joined in death by his
wife and son. Survivors include his
parents Cliff and Debbie Barnett of
New Meadows; grandparents, Bob
and Pat Balbach and Joyce and
Raymond Barnett a great-granc-
mother, Christine Stephens, and sev-
eral aunts, uncles and cousins.
Kristina was born March 25, 1976,
in Pullman, Wash., and was the daugh-
ter of Donald E. and Dianna C. Olson.
She grew up in Moscow and attended
ogos Christian School. She gradu-
Barnett family eulogized in service
NEW MEADOWS A d
— crow
of more than 600 people filled the
New Meadows High School gym-
nasium to near capacity last Thursday
to hear friends and family eulogize
Dennis, Kristina and Justin Barnett,
t;
who were killed in a traffic accident
several miles north of New Meadows
on Oct. 4.
Barnett, 21, who graduated from
Meadows Valley High School in
1993, was described by his former
high school basketball coach Curtis
Blum as a "unique blend of tough
and tender."
.�da(dv 5t'dfe911/al4 0c1 b;199G
ated from Logos in 1994 and went to
LCSC for the fall semester of 1994.
She met her husband Dennis
Michael Barnett at college in
Lewiston. They were married Sep-
tember 30, 1995, and lived on the
farm where Dennis worked in Mos-
cow. Their baby boy, Justin Wyatt
Barnett, was born on March 10, 1996,
in Lewiston.
Kristina's ambition in life was to
be a housewife and a mother. She
enjoyed shopping, church activities,
spending time with family and most
of all taking care of her two boys
(husband, Dennis, and son, Justin).
Kristina is survived by her parents of
Moscow; two sisters, Holly Olson of
Moscow, Elsa Fairley of Moscow and
Elsa's husband, Steve, and children
Doug, 15, and Julie, 10; a grand-
mother, Mildred Olson of Moscow; a
grandfather, George Crane of Troy,
as well as several aunts, uncles, cous-
ins.
Justin Wyatt Barnett was born
March 10, 1996, in Lewiston and was
the son of Dennis and Kristina Barnett.
Justin was joinedin death by his
mother and father. Justin was a bright
and shiny light and touched everyone
who came in contact with him. Many
people commented on Justin's con-
stant smile and sweet personality. He
was often tickled with himself as he
mastered new skills.
He is survived by his grandpar-
ents, Cliff and Debbie Barnett of New
Meadows, and Don and Dianna Olson
of Moscow; great-grandparents, sev-
eral aunts, uncles and cousins.
Memorials should be made to the
Meadows Valley Ambulance Service,
New Meadows, ID 83654.
And he loved the outdoors he
grew up in on the family's New
Meadows ranch.
But, Blum said, the sport Barnett
enjoyed most was eating. He said
he also knew Dennis as having devel-
oped a much deeper quality since
he knew him in high school, and
that was the special place he held
in his heart for his wife, Kristina,
who was 20, and son Justin, who
was 7 months old at the time of the
accident that took all of their lives.
"I'll never forget coaching him
here in basketball," Blum said.
•
His wife, whom he met while
attending Lewis -Clark State College
in Lewiston, was born in Pullman,
Wash., and she grew up on the fam-
ily farm near Moscow. Kristin grad-
uated from the Logos Christian'
School in Moscow.
She was remembered by friends
as one who was full of joy, which
she shared willingly with everyone.
And it was noted that their wedding
vows, taken one year and four days
before their tragic death, included
the phrase "Til death do us part." '
Parting was not in the plan for
them.
The Rev. David McGarrah, who
officiated at their wedding and had
recently baptised their son, said,
"The unfairness of this world caved
in on us this week. This young fam-
ily had so much to live for.
"It was a bad deal, no matter how
you look at it, it's a bad deal," he
said. And he said it emphasizes the
fact that everyone needs to be ready
to meet God at any time.
McGaragh said the family, which
attended his church, the Moscow
Church of the Nazarene, will remain
together. But he reminded every-
one that "you haven't seen the last
of these kids."
The family was buried together
at the Barnett ranch outside of New
Meadows.
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Dixon charged with manslaughter in
deaths of three in Moscow family
BY JEANNE SEOL
Thesuu-News
A New Meadows man charged
with the vehicular manslaughter in
the death of a Moscow family was
bound over for trial last Friday at the
Adams County Courthouse in
Council.
Douglas Dixon, 36, will be ar-
raigned in Third District Court on
Nov. 4 at 10 a.m., where he will enter
a plea to three felony counts of ve-
hicular manslaughter and one felony
count of leaving the scene of an acci-
dent. Dixon waived his right to a
preliminary hearing last Friday in
Adams County Magistrate's Court.
Dixon also posted bond last Friday
after bond was reduced from $200,000
to $100,000.
Dixon is charged in the court com-
plaint of causing the death of Dennis
Barnett, 21, formerly of New Mead-
ows, his wife, Kristina Barnett, 20,
and the couple's seven -month old son,
Justin Barnett, by "driving under the
influence of alcohol and striking the
(Barnett) vehicle."
On Oct. 6 at 9:04 p.m., the Barnetts
were driving south on U.S. 95 four
miles north of New Meadows when
they were hit broadside by a vehicle
driven by Dixon.
Dixon was traveling west on Zim's
Road and did not stop at the intersec-
tion with U.S. 95, police said. Dixon's
1995 Chevrolet pickup collided with
the Barnett's 1985 Celebrity station
wagon and pushed it off the highway,
through a fence and into a pasture.
All three members of the Barnett
family were pronounced dead at the
scene. Dixon was not injured and was
arrested a short time later at a nearby
residence after he left the scene, po-
lice said.
v[N'' Loaf )41,(Ar6/oca /O/�3/94
Winter's first storms bring lots of slide -offs acc
idents
It was a weekend that saw more
than its share of bruised fenders
and some bruised bodies.
Snowstorms that began Friday
evening made for some icy sled-
ding over the weekend.
There were lots of slide-effs
over the weekend, events that con-
tinued Tuesday morning with a
rash of them in the Goose Creek
Grade on Idaho Highway 55.
That was the situation Saturday
morning on Little Donner Summit
north of Cascade, where at one
point, authorities reported 7 vehi-
cles in the ditch at one time.
It was so icy that vehicles that
dared to stop on the curve just
below the summit on the north
side of the hill began sliding side-
ways into the north -bound ditch.
The worst of a number of acci-
dents over the weekend took place
on Idaho 55 about two miles south
of Cascade.
In that accident, Charles Bowse,
28, of Boise, struck an abutment
of the small bridge over Big Creek.
According to an Idaho State Police
Dispatcher, Bowse let up on the
accelerator of his car and lost con-
trol.
The vehicle hit the bridge side-
ways and he had to be extricated
from the vehicle by a Cascade
Rural Fire Department rescue crew.
He was transported by ambu-
lance to the Cascade Medical
Minor injuries were suffered in this Saturday evening collision on Idaho Hwy 55 just north of
Arling Hot Springs. Treacherous driving conditions and unstable early winter weather should have
drivers exercising all due caution.
Center, and later by Life Flight
helicopter to St. Alphonsus Regional
Medical Center in Boise where he
was listed in critical condition.
Another accident on Idaho
Highway 55 just north of the Arling
Hot Springs area snarled traffic
Saturday evening, but resulted in
no serious injuries.
A south -bound vehicle went
out of control after hitting black
ice and crossed into the north-
bound lane where it collided with
a north -bound vehicle.
Traffic was intermittent through
that area for a couple of hours
before the wreckage was cleared
and traffic began flowing normally.
Winter has arrived in the cen-
tral Idaho mountains, and drivers
are advised to proceed cautiously
as they travel in the sometimes
treacherous early winter condi-
tions. Those conditions usually
bring freezing rain and snow flur-
ries that can quickly turn to glare
ice.
Lori
Valle? /ldVoca to G?✓t 30, fqw
Barnett changes plea,
prosecutor will re -file a
first -degree murder charge
CASCADE — Prosecutors were expected to re -file a first -degree
murder charge against Ean Vinton Barnett Tuesday following his with-
drawal of a guilty plea to second-degree kidnapping at his sentencing
hearing last week.
After hearing from 13 witnesses called to testify at Thursday's hear-
ing on behalf of Barnett — family, friends and teachers — Fourth
District Judge George D. Carey maintained a position he first stated
at a hearing last month, that he wasn't going to accept the plea bar-
gain agreement that had been struck between Barnett's attorneys and
prosecutors.
That means Barnett had the option of either taking his chances with
Carey, who could have sentenced him to the maximum 25 years in
prison on the charge, or withdraw his guilty plea. When he withdrew
the plea, that left prosecutors with the option of re -filing an even more
serious charge against Barnett.
The original deal included a sentencing provision that Carey had
earlier said he couldn't go along with, that would have seen Barnett
go to prison for only 5 to 10 years for his role in the May 1995 mur-
der of Jeffrey David Towers
Last month, Ryan Robertson, 20, Michael Olivera, 18, and Chad
Toney, 18, were all sentenced to maximum sentences for their involve-
ment in the execution -style murder, which took place in the Paddy
Flat area southeast of McCall.
Robertson received 25 years tolife for second-degree murder, Oliver
received 15 to 25 years for second-degree kidnapping, and Toney
received 5 years for being an accessory to murder after the fact.
Barnett's deal was the first struck by any of the four defendants,
all of whom were initially charged with first -degree murder. He agreed
to the deal in exchange for his testimony against the other three. But,
as Carey did with all of the deals struck, he said he wasn't going to
accept them until last month's sentencing.
Barnett also provided authorities with their first break in the case
in November of 1995 after he was arrested on an unrelated charge. He
began talking to authorities about the murder, and ultimately led them
to a'shallow grave along a creek in the Paddy Flat area where the four
had buried Towers' body after he was shot dead and they burned it.
Both Valley County Prosecutor Robert Williams and one of Barnett's
attorneys, Valley County Public Defender Richard Roats, said they
expect to see quite a bit of legal wrangling in the next few weeks ;-�
months.
What will be at issue are a number of "evidentiary" matters —
what will be allowed to be admitted as evidence in the case and what
won't.
Key among those issues is an immunity agreement between Barnett
and prosecutors early on that may or may not still be binding.
Williams said his position is that conflicting statements Barnett has
given authorities both in court and during the investigation breeched
that immunity agreement.
"We'll have to go back and see if that immunity agreement is still
valid," he said.
At any rate, Roats said his client should have gotten a lighter sen-
tence that Olivera, even if he maintained his guilty plea to the second-
degree kidnapping charge because the case would never have been
solved without him as an informant for authorities.
Those and other issues concerning the admissibility of statements
by others will have be ruled on by Carey before the first -degree mur-
der charge ever gets back to the preliminary hearing stage in Magistrate
Court, Williams said.
Also an issue at this point is what will happen once Williams leaves
office in January. He was defeat-
ed by Roats in the May primary
election for the unopposed
Republican spot on the Nov. 5 bal-
lot.
Williams said that he hopes to
have most of the preliminary issues
resolved by that time, and he said
another plea bargain of some sort
remains a possibility. But he said
that, if necessary, he will ask Carey
to appoint the Idaho Attorney
General's Office to a position of
special prosecutor in the case and
take over in that regard.
Roats will continue to have a
conflict of interest as Barnett's
attorney, he said.
The Idaho AG's office has been
involved in the case from the begin-
ning anyway with Deputy AG Tom
Watkins serving as co -counsel
with Williams.
Olivera's attorneys ask for reduction of sentence
CASCADE — Attorneys for Michael Olivera, who was sentenced to
15 to 25 years in prison for his role in the May 1996 killing of Jeffrey David
Towers, have asked that Fourth District Judge George D. Carey reduce
that sentence.
Olivera pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree kidnapping as part
of a plea bargain struck with prosecutors in the case.
Olivera's court -appointed attorneys, Mike Pierce of Cascade and Gar
Hackney of Boise, filed a motion and an affidavit in support of the motion
last week in Fourth District Courtin Cascade asking Carey to reduce their
client's sentence.
The motion is not an appeal of the sentence handed down, and instead
is a legal step asking the ruling judge to reconsider the sentence and reduce
it.
Dixon pleads innocent to vehicular
manslaughter charges in Barnett tragedy
COUNCIL — Douglas Dixon, the 36-year side of the highway.
old New Meadows man charged with three counts Dixon's 1995 Chevrolet pickup then collid-
of vehicular manslaughter in the Oct. 6 deaths ed with the south -bound 1985 Chevrolet Celebrity
of Dennis Barnett, 21, his wife Kristina, 21, and station wagon driven by Dennis Barnett. All three
their 7-month-old son Justin, pleaded innocent were pronounced dead at the scene of the acci-
to those charges in District Court here Monday. dent.
Dixon also pleaded innocent to a single charge Dixon, whose vehicle was equipped with an
of felony leaving the scene of the accident that airbag, escaped injury and is alleged to have fled
he is charged with. the scene of the accident. He was found later by
He is free on $100,000 bond, and an antici- Idaho State Police officers at the nearby home
pated 3-day trial is scheduled to begin May 27, of his brother.
1997 here. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the acci-
The charges result from an accident that is dent, but no separate DUI charge has been filed
alleged to have taken place when the west -bound against Dixon. Instead, alcohol is noted as a con -
Dixon failed to stop for a stop sign on Circle C tributing factor in the complaint filed against
Lane at its intersection with U.S. Highway 95. him on the manslaughter charges.
That lane becomes Zims Lane on the west
This week's front page stories Page 1 of 1
Weiser man dies in wreck north of New Meadows
A Weiser man died last Thursday when the car he was driving and a semi -truck collided on U.S. 95
about 13 miles north of New Meadows, the Idaho State Police said.
The accident happened about 12:54 p.m. Aug. 1 as Leonardo Cornejo, 20, of Weiser, was traveling
souhbound on U.S. 95, an ISP release said.
Comejo lost control of his vehicle, swerved into the northbound lane, and collided with the semi -truck
being driven north by Greg Ingalls, 43, of Kingston.
Comejo was pronounced dead at the scene. Ingalls was taken by ambulance to St. Luke's McCall,
where he treated for his injuries and released on Friday, a hospital spokesperson said.
Comejo was wearing his seat belt, Ingalls was not. The northbound lane of U.S. 95 was blocked for
about 5 hours, the ISP release said.
http://www.mccallstarnews.com/pages/fp_stories_page.php 8/8/2013