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.
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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.
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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.