Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAboutCrime: Murder - Herndon, Bertha and Delbert Deansuspects in Idaho deaths arrested John Blackmer/Statesman Officer Mike Westhoff takes bloodhound "Radar" up a draw during the search as Lt. Steve Lamont follows. By DAN POPKEY The Idaho Statesman DONNELLY — Two of three suspects in last week's slaying of a Marsing woman and her nephew were arrested early Thursday in Donnelly, but the third suspect remained at large. William Odom Jr., 26, and his wife, Leni, 19, both of Orland, Calif., were arrested shortly after 2 a.m. in a trailer home the three suspects had rented Tuesday, Valley County Sheriff Blair Shepherd said. The third suspect, Jerry Gilbertson, 35. also of Orland, became the target of a man- hunt in the mountains east of Donnelly. He is believed to have tied up and threatened to kill a man Wednesday evening near Gold Fork Hot Springs, about nine miles south- east of Donnelly. He eluded officers Thurs- day, but the search was expected to con- tinue today. The Odoms and Gilbertson are charged with beating to death Bertha Herndon, 58, Marsing, and her nephew, Delbert Dean Herndon, 35, Moorfield, Neb. The beatings took place Friday or Saturday, and the bodies were found Tuesday in shallow graves in the Ruby Meadows area, 20 miles northeast of McCall. The Odoms were arraigned Thursday in Cascade and were in Valley County Jail late Thursday in lieu of $100,0110 bond. Ann LaRose/Statesman The search for Gilbertson began after Valley County Sheriff's Cpl. Bob Clements saw Roger Bacon, Santa Barbara, Calif., wave at him near a road about a mile from a campground at Gold Fork Hot Springs, at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Shepherd said. Bacon said he was walking down to the Gold Fork River with a man he had met that afternoon at the campground when the man pointed an automatic pistol at him and threatened to kill him, Clements said. In a statement to authorities, Bacon said, "He told me, 'I'm a highwayman,' and he said he was desperate because the fuzz was after him and he needed my money and my car." Shepherd said the man believed to be Gil- bertson and matching his description used Bacon's shoelaces to bind Bacon's hands be- hind his head and then removed his own laces to tie Bacon's feet together. The man then left to search of Bacon's pickup. When Clements arrived 10 minutes later, Bacon "had blood on his teeth from chewing through the string," but had freed his legs, Clements said. "He said the guy said he was going to come back and kill him. He said he was looking down the barrel of his gun." Valley County deputies set up roadblocks. About 9:30 p.m. a deputy saw a man be- lieved to be Gilbertson running over a hill behind the hot springs, Shepherd said. The man was barefoot, but may have been car- rying shoes. Idaho County Sheriff Randy Baldwin ar- rived about 4 a.m. Thursday with six of his deputies and a tracking dog to help search. They were joined by officers from the North Idaho Correctional Institution at Cot- tonwood, the U.S. Forest Service and the state Department of Fish and Game. After 13 hours of searching, Baldwin said, See ARRESTS, Back Page Searchers talk strategy ne Continued from Page 1A "Everybody's concerned about getting him before he gets back in a population area. He's extremely dangerous." The dogs had trouble following the scent of the man, Corrections Lt. Steve Lamont said. Lamont brought a bloodhound, "Radar," normally used at the prison. "We thought he was on the scent this morning, but it just didn't last," Lamont said. Idaho County Deputy Jerry Crosland said the granitic soil, which doesn't show footprints, was making the search difficult. He said deputies, although ex- hausted, can't relax. "Hey, this is hunting. The only thing about this is he's hunting back." Idaho County Deputy Jerry Marko said the terrain was rough on his German shepherd, Kona, who was limping by day's end. "I kind of wore out my dog — he blew a pad." Baldwin said the search was ex- pected to continue today for Gil- bertson, who is described as 6 feet John Blackmer/Statesman ar Gold Fork Hot Springs. tall, 150 pounds, with long black hair, a beard and mustache and some missing front teeth. The Herndons were killed by blows to the head, and Delbert Herndon also was shot before they were buried near Ruby Meadows, in Idaho County just north of the Valley County line. They had been working on a family gold claim since July 24. Their pickup was found Thursday . about 10 miles from the Gold Fork Hot Springs campground. The Odoms were arrested after deputies received a call from Roger Edwards, owner of Ed- wards Trailer Park in Donnelly, who had seen a television report about the suspects. Edwards said he had rented a trailer to the three Tuesday, Shepherd said. The Odoms were arrested without incident, and their two small boys were placed in a foster home. Baldwin said robbery is be- lieved to be the motive in the crime, but he declined to say what role the three suspects played. Search goes on for 3rd suspect in two killings CASCADE — Valley and Idaho county sheriff's officers continued their search Saturday for a man ac- cused of last week's slayings of a Marsing woman and her nephew. A Valley County Sheriff's Depart- ment dispatcher said the suspect, Jerry Gilbertson, 35, Orland, Calif., remained at large Saturday night. Sheriff Blair Shepherd could not be reached for comment. The last confirmed sighting of Gil- bertson was Wednesday near Gold Fork Hot Springs, about nine miles southeast of Donnelly. Gilbertson and two others are ac- cused of first -degree murder in Idaho County in the beating deaths of Bertha Herndon, 58, Marsing, and Delbert Dean Herndon, 35, Moorfield, Neb. The two others accused, William Odom Jr., 26, and his wife, Leni, 19, also of Orland, were arrested in Don- nelly on Thursday. They both still were being held late Saturday in the Idaho County Jail, Grangeville, 2 men plead innocent in deaths near McCall The Associated Press GRANGEVILLE Two men accused in the deaths of a Mars- ing woman and her nephew pleaded innocent to charges of first -degree murder and robbery in 2nd District Court. Gerald Ross Pizzuto, 29, and James Rice, 25, entered their pleas Thursday in separate hear- ings before Judge George Rein- hardt. The California men were charged in the deaths July 26 of Alberta Louise Herndon, 58, and her nephew, Delbert Dean Hern- don, 37, of Moorefield, Neb. .King County, Wash., authorities have charged that Pizzuto and an- other man strangled Rita Drury, 51, in March in north Seattle. Piz- zuto also is wanted for question- ing in the shooting of John Jones, 31, in Seattle about two weeks later, authorities said. The Herndons had been camp- ing and mining 26 miles north of McCall. Their buried bodies were found July 30. Familymembers testifyin murder trial _ in Grangeville The Associated Press .1 l GRANGEVILLE — Family mem- bers of the defendant and victims tes- tified Friday in 2nd District Court about events surrounding the slayings of Berta L. Herndon of Marsing and her nephew, Del Dean Herndon. Gerald R. Pizzuto, 29, is charged with first -degree murder in connec- tion with the Herndons' deaths July 25 at Ruby Meadows north of McCall. Del Dean Herndon, 37, was a long - haul truck driver, originally from Morefield, Neb., who had been stay- ing with Berta Herndon and her hus- band, Delbert. Delbert Herndon testified that his wife and nephew left Marsing on July 24 to work a mining claim in the Ruby Meadows area. He also testified that Del Dean Herndon was carrying "all the money he needed" and stopped in Emmett to buy a mining dredge before going on to Ruby Meadows. Herndon was asked about his friendship with Angela Pizzuto, sister of the defendant. He said he had met her last November during Pizzuto's preliminary hearing. Angela Pizzuto told Herndon she was unemployed and having financial difficulty. A short time later, he said, he mailed her $200. That was the only money he ever sent to her, he said, and it was "to help her with ex- penses." Pizzuto's attorney, Nick Cheno- weth, asked Herndon whether he had promised to send Angela Pizzuto $500, invited her to join him on a vacation to Hawaii and promised to name her • as a beneficiary of his estate. Hern- don said he had not. But later Friday, Toni Pizzuto, an- other sister of the defendant, said Angela Pizzuto had said Herndon had promised her all those things. _ On Thursday, Angela Pizzuto had testified that her brother told her 'le killed two people. Idaho County Prosecutor Henry Boomer asked her whether her testi- mony was influenced by the money she received from Delbert Herndon. She said it was not. /c/Qk (___ e siva Man, 27, pleads guilty in cabin killing The Associated Press GRANGEVILLE — One of the men accused of slaying a man and a woman last year north of McCall says he killed the man "to put him out of his misery" after the victim had been wounded by another defendant. James Michael Rice, 27, pleaded guilty on Thursday to a reduced charge of second-degree murder before 2nd District Judge George R. Reinhardt in connec- tion with the deaths in July of Al- berta L. Herndon and her neph- ew, Delbert D. Herndon. Rice originally had been charged with two counts of first - degree murder, but Idaho County Prosecutor Henry R. Boomer re- duced them in exchange for Rice's plea and his testimony dur- ing the trials of Gerald R. Pizzuto and William N. Odom. Pizzuto and Odom are charged with first -degree murder in the crimes and will stand trial sepa- rately. All three men are from Or- land, Calif. During his testimony, Rice said he was panning for gold on July 25 as the Herndon drove by. Rice said he talked to them briefly about mining before they drove on. Later, Rice said, Pizzuto came back to the cabin to get Odom's rifle. "Jerry said, `I'm gonna go hunt- ing and get me some meat'," Rice said. Odom then returned to the cabin and told Rice and Odom's wife, Lene, "I think Jerry is going to kill those people," Rice said. Rice said he and Odom went to the Herndon's cabin and wit- nessed the murder. When Pizzuto came out of the cabin, he was wearing Delbert Herndon's boots and wearing his ring. Rice said he went into the cabin. "The man was in there, and his feet were shaking. I looked at the lady, and she had a big old blood spot on the back of her head. The man was all cov- ered with blood. ... I took the rifle, and I shot him between the eyes to put him out of his mis- ery."izzuto then ordered Rice to dig graves for the two. When Rice protested, Pizzuto threatened to kill him, but Odom interceded. Rice said he marked one of the graves with a rock, intending to tell the police about the situation when he got the chance. Rice said Pizzuto stole $900 from the Herndon, which was later divided between the three men. Later, when the group went to Cascade, Rice bought a bus ticket to California. He said several times Pizzuto attempted to kill him, but was prevented by Odom. When Rice reached California, he said, he contacted authorities and told them the story, although his first version of the story were false. Rice said he lied because he was worried about his participa- tion by shooting Delbert Herndon. No sentencing date was im- mediately set for Rice. l Jr(' /load 9�7r--5/70/T /�� Judge to sentence 3 in killing of pair near McCall The Associated Press h ,1 4772(k_ GRANGEVILLE — Convicted murderer Gerald R. Pizzuto main- tained his innocence Thursday in 2nd District Court, as his defense attor- ney quoted George Bernard Shaw in an attempt to save his client from the death penalty. Sentencing was set for 10 a.m. today by District Judge George R. Reinhardt, who heard Pizzuto's attor- ney, Nick Chenowith, call Pizzuto "a victim of himself" and quote Shaw, saying, "Criminals don't die by the hand of the law but by the hands of other men." But Idaho County Prosecutor Henry Boomer said Pizzuto, 29, must pay for his part in the first -degree murders near McCall in July of Berta Herndon, 58, of Marsing, and her nephew, Del Dean Herndon, 37, of Ne- braska. "Society must draw the line," Boomer said. "Criminals must know that if you cross the line, you'd better be prepared to pay for it with your life." Pizzuto told Reinhardt that he never compromised with officials be- cause he did not kill the Herndons. "I said I will not plea-bargain be- cause I did not kill the people," he said. "That's a horrible thing they did." Pizzuto was referring to William Odom and James Rice, who agreed to plea bargains in the case. Odom pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, while Rice pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Both will be sentenced today. At a hearing Wednesday, witnesses described Pizzuto as both a severely abused child and a viciously aggres- sive adult. Pizzuto's younger sisters, Angela and Toni Pizzuto, both testified that from the time they were toddlers, they, their two sisters and Gerald Piz- zuto were abused physically and sex- ually by a stepfather. "I saw Jerry get it worse than any of the other kids for no reason. ... (the stepfather) would try to have sexual intercourse with Jerry," Toni Pizzuto said. Their mother was rarely at home, the sisters testified, and when her children did try to tell her about the abuse, she did nothing. Pizzuto tried to defend himself and his sisters against their stepfather, but was sel- dom successful, they said. As a result, all the older children ran away from home in their early and midteens to the home of their natural father, only to be abused by him as well, the women said. Angela Pizzuto said she and her sis- ters became sexually promiscuous, while Gerald Pizzuto ended up in jail at age 19 for raping a woman in Michigan. Michael P. Emery, a clinical psy- chologist from Orofino who evaluated Pizzuto after his murder conviction, said Pizzuto has an "anti -social per- sonality" that probably could not be altered even with therapy. He called Pizzuto a "dangerous and violent per- son." /7/J Pizzuto wins stay of execution date The Associated Press Yj/r4' The Idaho Supreme Court has stayed the May 27 execution of convicted double murderer Ger- ald Pizzuto. In a two -page order, the high court granted both Pizzuto's re- quest for the stay and his petition to suspend his appeals before the high court, pending completion of all legal matters in the case be- fore 2nd District Judge George Reinhardt. On April 26, Reinhardt issued a death warrant for Pizzuto, 32, of Orland, Calif., for the 1985 slay- ings of two people in an isolated area north of McCall. Pizzuto, one of 17 men on Idaho's death row, was convicted in 1986 of first -degree murder in the killings of Berta Herndon, 58, of Marsing, and her nephew, Del Dean Herndon, 37, of Morefield, Neb. They were beaten to death at a mining claim in Ruby Mead- ows about 26 miles north of McCall. The case is being handled under the new Idaho law requiring con- solidation of all issues for appeal to the state Supreme Court.