A busy week for the Shoshone County legal system
WALLACE — It was a busy pair of days at the Shoshone County Courthouse on Tuesday and Wednesday, as multiple cases proceeded through the legal system.
Among them were the sentencings of Richard Rogers Jr. and Logan Silva, as well as the arraignment of accused murderer Stephanie Paris.
On Tuesday, visiting Ada County Judge Ronald Wilper handed down the sentencings of Silva and Rogers.
Rogers, 73, was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, as well as leaving the scene of an accident — all stemming from an incident in August 2021, where Rogers struck and killed Valerie Furrow with his vehicle in the small community of Calder.
The entire sequence followed a confrontation with multiple neighbors at his home, and led to an intoxicated Rogers deciding to flee the scene of the confrontation and in doing so hit and killed Furrow, whose body got stuck beneath Rogers’ vehicle and was dragged roughly the length of a football field.
Rogers was taken into custody later that evening where it was discovered that he had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .246 — roughly three times the legal limit, which was measured at least four hours after police were dispatched to the scene.
The trial lasted three days and included over a dozen witnesses, which helped the jury reach a guilty verdict in less than an hour.
Rogers, who during the trial never seemed to take accountability for his actions, once again appeared to show a lack of empathy as he was sentenced and went as far as to blame one of the victim’s family members for her death.
Ben Allen representing the state asked for the maximum sentence and Judge Wilper agreed with his recommendation.
Judge Wilper sentenced Rogers to 15 years (all fixed), while also noting that the defendant would likely spend his last years behind bars.
“You haven't expressed any remorse — even today you are blaming this all on Ken Simpson,” Wilper said while handing down the sentence.
Logan Silva, 24, was found guilty of forcible rape in June, but the charges dated back to an incident in December 2020.
The Kellogg Police Department received a report of sexual assault that came to dispatch immediately after the incident.
The investigation began immediately in the early morning hours of Dec. 9, 2020 — including a sexual assault examination at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, which resulted in the acquisition of DNA evidence.
When confronted by law enforcement and questioned about the incident, Silva claimed he knew nothing about the sexual assault and refused to provide his version of the events, citing intoxication and effectively refusing to cooperate in law enforcement’s investigation.
However, a search warrant was obtained for DNA evidence from the defendant. The Idaho State Police Forensics Laboratory compared the DNA samples submitted and provided confirmation of test results which corroborated the victim’s statements to police.
Once the matter went to trial, it took a jury less than an hour to come to a guilty verdict based on the two days of witness testimony that was heard.
During its sentencing argument, the state noted that the psychosexual evaluation performed on the defendant placed him in the "Above Average" risk category for sexual recidivism.
The state then pointed out that the presentence investigation report which was submitted to the court as part of sentencing noted that each of the defendant’s prior four misdemeanor convictions were also tied to alcohol use, further supporting the overlap between the defendant’s criminal conduct and intoxication.
This information compounded by the defendant's seeming lack of remorse, led to the state requesting a unified 25-year sentence for the defendant’s rape conviction.
To counter this, the defense attorney pointed to the number of letters of support the defendant received from members of the community and suggested that the court should consider giving him a retained jurisdiction that would focus more on rehabilitation.
Judge Wilper didn’t acquiesce to either recommendation, but instead handed down a sentence of 15 years, consisting of four years fixed, plus 11 years indeterminate.
In his closing remarks, Wilper admonished Silva by saying, "Your sense of entitlement and lack of empathy is a real problem and my hope is that while you're serving this sentence you take responsibility for that.”
Stephanie Paris, 47, went before Judge Barbara Duggan on Wednesday for her felony arraignment on charges of first-degree murder, failure to notify authorities of a death and obstruction of justice.
The charges stem from an incident in June, when the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office attempted to conduct a welfare check on Aaron Peterson, a Smelterville man who was in a "violent domestic relationship" with his girlfriend, Stephanie Paris, according to the reporting party.
Paris met the deputy at the door to the residence in Smelterville, but wouldn’t allow him entry, stating that Peterson was in the shower and would be headed to work at the Bunker Hill Mine soon.
Shoshone County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Jared Bilaski left the residence and returned with backup from both SCSO and the Kellogg Police Department, where he informed Paris that he would be obtaining a search warrant for the property — to which Paris allegedly replied by saying, "If you kick that door open, you're going to be dead. I'll shoot you."
Once the search warrant was granted by Magistrate Judge Keisha Oxendine, Bilaski searched the house and located Peterson — who had been killed via multiple gunshots to his back.
Paris was taken into custody immediately and has remained in the custody of the SCSO since.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Paris’s attorneys asked for and received a continuance in the matter.
Although, during the hearing, Paris waived her right to a speedy trial and her defense counsel did request a bond reduction for Paris — who was hoping to be released to her family as the case made its way through the court proceedings.
Judge Duggan denied that request — and Paris’s bond remains at $500,000.
Paris’s next hearing — a felony arraignment — is scheduled for Nov. 9.
