Huckleberries Online

Update: PF Man Arrested In CdA Murder

Posted by DFO

May 9, 2009 1:21 p.m. • 44 comments

Detectives were able to learn the name of the registered owner of the vehicle, and through further investigation learned where the suspect worked. The Post Falls Police Swat team assisted Coeur d’Alene Police with the apprehension of Juan C. Aldana Villanueva, 22, Post Falls. Villanueva (pictured) was arrested at his place of employment Rancho Viejo at 2526 E. Seltice Way in Post Falls. The Swat team assisted due to the suspect possibly being armed and dangerous. There were no patrons in the business. There were approximately 4 employees inside the restaurant at the time. They claimed to not know where Villanueva was in the building. Swat members cleared every room and found Villanueva locked inside of a restroom. Officers ordered him to come out and he complied. Villanueva was arrested for 1st degree murder and taken into custody/Sgt. Christie Wood, Coeur d’Alene Police Department. Full news release below. And: Original release on murder story here.

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department received information from area law enforcement officers that they had had previous contact with a vehicle matching the description of the suspect’s. Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department was able to retrieve that information from their data base.
Detectives were able to learn the name of the registered owner of the vehicle, and through further investigation learned where the suspect worked. The Post Falls Police Swat team assisted Coeur d’Alene Police with the apprehension of Juan C. Aldana Villanueva, 22 years of age of Post Falls. Villanueva was arrested at his place of employment Toro Viejo at 740 N. Cecil Road in Post Falls. The Swat team assisted due to the suspect possibly being armed and dangerous.
There were no patrons in the business. There were approximately 4 employees inside the restaurant at the time. They claimed to not know where Villanueva was in the building. Swat members cleared every room and found Villanueva locked inside of a restroom. Officers ordered him to come out and he complied.

Villanueva was arrested for 1st degree murder and taken into custody. Detectives are still in process of interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence. The victims name is still being withheld pending notification of family members.

Tips continue to come in from witnesses due to the help of the media. The Police Department would like to thank the media for their immediate cooperation in helping us with this crime.

44 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

hmoffsuite on May 09 at 2:57 p.m.
Nice police work. Good job folks.
OrangeTV on May 09 at 5:16 p.m.
For what it’s worth, I just spoke with the wife of Junior Briseno whose family owns Toro Viejo and Baja Bargarita and the murderer was employed at RANCHO VIEJO, a completely unrelated restaurant. They aren’t happy about the media getting that little detail wrong.

Jessi runs Baja and said that the murder and his friends showed up there after Mik-n-Mac’s and actually maced some innocent people standing outside, and the police showed up there but didn’t catch the guy there. They then fled to the Torch, got kicked out right before the shooting.

The media and/or police report seems to have messed up on some minor but important details…
hmoffsuite on May 09 at 5:37 p.m.
Very good, OrangeTV. To set the record straight on the ownership thing. I wouldn’t think this incident would have much of an effect their business or anything else. Who knows, it might increase their awareness and improve business. I think the Denny’s, where they arrested Duncan, got a bump in business after the incident. Of course, that was after the waitress gal became a celebrity.
carolynl on May 09 at 5:47 p.m.
FYI — Reporter Becky Kramer just talked to Christie Wood, who admitted the error in the initial news release. Villanueva was arrested at Rancho Viejo, NOT Toro Viejo. She told us she will be sending out a corrected news release shortly. We have corrected the business name in the version of the story posted at spokesman.com.
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 6:00 p.m.
DFO.
Do you feel all the staffing cutbacks may have
played a part in the inaccurate reporting? What
ever happened to verifying accuracy of press
releases instead of taking them at face value?
Not knocking SR but not surprised either…..
shellzbellz on May 09 at 6:17 p.m.
Hey I can tell you OTV is very correct on his information! The news has everything all messed up. I know they are trying to report the news but hey come one people let’s get it right!
Someone has died because of this so let’s at least report the right details!!
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 6:29 p.m.
shellzbellz-
I could not agree more with you…accurate
reporting today seems to take a back seat to getting
the story out FAST…… IMHO, OTV has a very good
proven track record for accuracy in what he says.. :)
OrangeTV on May 09 at 6:36 p.m.
To KHQ’s credit, they did issue a correction for the second time they aired the story and actually interviewed Jessi at Baja on air, where she was able to clear a few things up. Actually, they interviewed her shadow, since she didn’t want to be on camera.

We still don’t know the victim’s name but witnesses I’ve talked to say he is of Native American descent.

For some real spine-tingling lynch-mob reactions, check the CDA Press comments on the story, if you can stomach it.
hhuseland on May 09 at 6:37 p.m.
What was left out of the story, was the apparent act of hiding the gunman by the restaurant that he worked for. Loyalty for a friend should stop at harboring a criminal. Did the others in the restaurant go down for harboring? Or are they getting a free pass?
hhuseland on May 09 at 6:40 p.m.
I agree with Orange, (hey once in a while, right?) This may have been an isolated incident involving a hothead … still, if it is gang related, it would be good for that to be revealed.
trishgannon on May 09 at 6:43 p.m.
be fair guys… it appears the inaccurate reporting wasn’t from the media, it was from the Coeur d’Alene Police department.
hhuseland on May 09 at 6:46 p.m.
Totally unrelated, but this question is for Wheels. Remembering the days at Chelsea’s and other adult bars of their times, where do people of over 50 go to party now?
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 6:49 p.m.
Trishgannon-
I disagree, inaccurate reporting WAS from the media!
Taking a press release at face value without verifying
accuracy resulted in inaccurate reporting..
trishgannon on May 09 at 7:03 p.m.
Hey Eagle, the police send out a press release because they’re too busy to handle an influx of phone calls. When you call anyway, they refer you to the press release.

Bear in mind that a young man was shot and the shooter fled. The media accommodated the police in getting information out when they were told in an effort to find the shooter, which was of primary importance.

Herb darlin’, nobody said the employees of the restaurant hid the gunman. They told the cops that they didn’t know where exactly he was hiding himself IN THE BUILDING. The cops searched every room and found him locked in the bathroom (according to the police statement).
Bent on May 09 at 7:11 p.m.
I am glad it wasn’t a Toro employee. I know Ruben and Junior and they have a lot of family working for them, but I just couldn’t picture any of them hiding a murderer…
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 7:15 p.m.
HEY Trish…
I agree there is a fine line to walk here between
accuracy and urgency. However, IMHO 10-15
minutes on the phone verifying information would
not have resulted in the perfs escape…It is still
the ultimate responsibility of the reporters to be
sure the story is Right the FIRST time…………
carolynl on May 09 at 7:30 p.m.
This just in to the Spokesman newsrooom from Sgt. Wood:

“The victim in the homicide that occurred in the early morning hours at Third Street and Indiana Avenue is identified as 21-year-old Timothy I. Williams of Worley, Idaho. Williams was attending college at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Mont. His family is from the Worley area.

No further information is forthcoming tonight.”
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 7:32 p.m.
Am I the only one to notice all the cooperation between
CDA Blue, PF Blue, and Kootenai County sheriff????
No turf war there, just like “HMOFFSUITE” said starting this thread, good solid police work. Good job Blues….a tip of
the hat is in order here……..
hmoffsuite on May 09 at 7:52 p.m.
Herb >>> “where do people of over 50 go to party now?”

Check out the Eagles Lodge on Sherman. As we elders are often on fixed incomes (retired) many like the cheap beveridges and food. Great place, good people. My wife joined a couple of years ago so we go often. You would be surprised at who you might see there. Mostly the old time Cda people. Those that grew up here or have been here a long while.
shellzbellz on May 09 at 7:58 p.m.
Hey EagleKeeper44 I totally agree with you!!! Considering the CDAblue is not the best they did well with this one. I have talked to some well informed people about this and found that most that has been reported is all messed up. But when it comes down to it as long as they get the guy that did it, then that is all that matters. First murder in CDA in 2 years?? Then that is a good thing!!
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 8:08 p.m.
I hope CDA blue builds an airtight case on this
guy and he spends a very long (as in life) time
in jail.

Note to judge: I’m available for jury duty
on this one……….. :)
shellzbellz on May 09 at 8:11 p.m.
Me too EagleKeeper44!!!!
OrangeTV on May 09 at 8:37 p.m.
Not to take away from the weight of this tragedy but I have to get a little mushy for a moment. We (or at least I) really don’t thank DFO (and the SR) enough for maintaining this invaluable forum where the community can come together and hash it out about local moments of crisis like this, often hours and hours before the story hits the actual media.

Before HBO we sort of went around in an uninformed haze and I can’t imagine what we did without it. Us HBO’ers get to feel like the cool kids, the know-it-alls, like we have an edge over everyone else when there’s breaking news and I’ve come to really love that.

Even my mom, who is totally not internet savvy, asks me all the time what the latest news is on HBO and I fill her in with all the goss because you can’t get most of it anywhere else. Cheers to HBO!
shellzbellz on May 09 at 8:47 p.m.
Ahmen OTV!!! I totaly agree!!
trishgannon on May 09 at 8:51 p.m.
Hey again Eagle, let me try to put you in the shoes of a reporter once more. Just who should they have called to verify? The police department, who issued the statement? As I said, you’re told to refer to the statement. The restaurant? Say they had called the restaurant and asked, “hey, so what do you have to say about this guy being arrested here?” and the restaurant, probably in the person of a young manager, says, “don’t know what you’re talking about.” Reporters would likely then have reported that while CDA police SAID they arrested someone there, the restaurant was denying it, and most would have thought it was along the lines of saying “I didn’t have sex with that woman,” while a small minority would likely think the police were lying for some reason. When the only thing that happened was a probably very harried police PR person made a pretty simple mistake in a statement. Unfortunately reporters are not mind readers and can’t report what you intended to say.

Sorry to disagree with you, but I just don’t think it’s really fair to blame the media. The blame comes when the media doesn’t correct information once they learn it needs corrected.
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 9:02 p.m.
Hey again Trish-

Guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. Accurate
reporting is still IMHO the responsibilty of the writer
of the story. If accuracy is not the requirement then
the readers/listeners/viewers should expect a
disclaimer as to the source accuracy. The police
are not in the reporting business and will sometimes
get facts wrong or slanted to make themselves look
better. It is the reporters job to filter thru this and not
subject the reader to corrections on the next newscast.
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 9:48 p.m.
Orange TV:
I agree completely with you on HBO and just how
valuable it is to this community. It’s great to get
breaking news almost instantly (as compared to
print and TV media) and to get the perspective
of what’s happening from all viewpoints. We may
bicker among ourselves on points sometimes but
the word gets out fast and this is due in no small
part to HBO and our fearless leader… aka DFO.
Hats off to you DFO….

((DFO))
DFO on May 09 at 10:11 p.m.
>Do you feel all the staffing cutbacks may have played a part in the inaccurate reporting? What ever happened to verifying accuracy of press releases instead of taking them at face value? — Eagle Keeper.<

You guys need to take a step back and look at the entire picture here. Christie Wood & CPD Blue did a terrific job getting the news out fast. (BTW, I’m still waiting for the name of the suicide victim who jumped from the Veterans Memorial Bridge Friday.) I absolutely applaud the way the local police department responds to the public’s right to know. It doesn’t happen at every department. Think, Spokane police, for example. Also, think Bonner County Sheriff’s Department, which wouldn’t tell the SR a thing when we called to confirm that farm accident in which an Athol area father ran over his son with a tractor-pulled roto-tiller. Now, as for me posting the news release … remember, this is my day off. I’m not going to sit around and work the phones on one of the two days per week that I can actually get outside. I posted the first story at 8 a.m. and checked back on my e-mail throughout the day and even at my sister’s place in Spirit Lake. As a result, HBOers were first to know that the murder took place, that the killer had been apprehended, and the victim had been identified. A mistake happened in the middle of all this — and was quickly corrected. Meanwhile, the daily newspapers are still 4 or 5 hours from bringing the story to your doorsteps. I’d say that’s pretty dang good. And Wayne Longo, Christie Wood & CPD Blue deserve a monster had tip for keep us in the loop.
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 10:15 p.m.
DFO, can I have my head back ,please….it doesn’t
look good on a silver platter anyway….
DFO on May 09 at 10:27 p.m.
Eagle Keeper; do I have to return the platter, too? ;-) Actually, this is a wonderful discussion. We’re all sorting out how the media works in this brave new cyber world. I had a conversation with one of the downtown managers Friday re: the rototiller accident in the Athol area. He wondered out loud what was appropriate in the way or news sources and what wasn’t. The mishap that was reported in Scanner Traffic on Thursday and Friday hasn’t been reported in any of the North Idaho media. I not only know the names of the father and 4YO (which I didn’t report) but I also know the extent of the little ones injuries. All that was left on the cutting room floor because neither the cops up north or the hospital would verify anything. My source is superb. But I’m not going to compromise my source or use info that hasn’t been filtered through official channels (although I could have done so with pinpoint accuracy). Nor did I want to add to the anguish of the father and the family by naming anyone. However, I thought you Hucksters should know that the accident happened the the child’ll be all right … eventually. As I said, we media online types and our newsroom counterparts are figuring this out as we go.
DFO on May 09 at 10:40 p.m.
One last thought — you guys saw the development of a breaking news story first hand today, if you followed the HBO thread. First, there was the original news release re: the murder occurring. Then, Christie sent a release that a suspect had been captured. Then, she told the media that Wayne Longo would be holding a press conference. And the name of the suspect followed. All this before 1 a.m. on a capital crime that occurred less than 12 hours before. Blogmeister Ryan posted links to my posts at SR.com. Around 1 o’clock, the newsroom kicked into action. And I headed to Ace Hardware on 4th to buy gardening tools and then out to my sister’s where we celebrated Mother’s Day with Mom and another sibling. Carolyn Lamberson posted the name of the victim on this thread and made the correction on the Mexican food place where the suspect was caught. By the time I got home tonight, we had a story re: the victim’s relationship to the tribe — and the impact of this horrible tragedy is having on the tight-knit Coeur d’Alenes. Sometimes, news gathering is like making sausage. You definitely got to peek under the hood today.
EagleKeeper44 on May 09 at 10:40 p.m.
DFO, No, keep the platter just return head……please.
:)
Sorry for the nit picking on the accuracy bit. Glad you
online types and the newsroom are working on the
source issue. Belive me, I do appreciate Sgt Wood
and CPD Blue’s willingness to keep the public
informed. This story had more twists and turns than
Spokane Raceway Park (LOL). Bottom line, the story
got out WAY ahead of the print/TV media. Behold the
future of NEWS.
MikeK on May 10 at 9:27 a.m.
I had the opportunity to see the detectives in the CdA Police Department last night at around 8:00 pm. They had been there since 2 am working at breakneck pace on this capital murder case. They were amazingly composed despite the fact that you could tell they were exhausted. Sgt. Christie Wood was there and shared with me that she had awakened television reporters in the early morning hours to get their assistance in letting the public know when the alleged perp was still at large. Print reporters were on the job and updating website information as events broke, and definitely HBO had all the details and updates and was truly helping break the story. The mistake on Rancho Viejo vs. Toro Viejo was just that, an honest mistake, and it was corrected fast.

The detectives and officers who were there did a phenomenal job. They also got help from Post Falls Police, Kootenai Sheriff’s Deputies, and tips from citizens who heard about it from the media. All of that teamwork played a part in getting this perp into custody in light speed.

We are very well served by our police department, and they deserve our appreciation.

My thoughts go out to the members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe who lost a family member and friend yesterday. The details of this dispute and the reason for the murder seem so pathetic, random, and useless it makes me very sad to contemplate it.
wheels on May 10 at 9:38 a.m.
Herb, don’t you mean ‘vague’ rememberances of Chelseas et al?Those days have long been over for me but I think hmoff hit it right.Never been there.Look fwd to seeing you sometime.Take care.
OrangeTV on May 10 at 10:45 a.m.
What Mike K said at the end of his comment is true. When the details behind the gunman’s motivation emerge, everyone will be shocked at the sheer pettiness of it all. Apparently, the whole thing stemmed from a drink mix-up, by someone grabbing the wrong cocktail by mistake. Truly sad, the loss of such a bright life over something so meaningless.
Sadbuttrue on May 10 at 12:27 p.m.
Mike K,

Umm, before we spend $$$$$MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars on chasing and defending an unlikely “capital” murder verdict, please come to your senses.

There is nothing about this incident that suggests a “capital” murder took place
spokelooneh on May 10 at 2:06 p.m.
Satbuttrue may be right. For a death sentence to be imposed, for first degree murder, at least one of 15 or so “statutory aggravating circumstances” must be alleged and proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The list is here on the bottom of the page:

http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/newidst?sctid=190250015.K

Perhaps someone more familiar with the application of this law can suggest which one of these; well there’s only a couple that I see that might apply.
MikeK on May 10 at 5:32 p.m.
I’m not a lawyer, nor a prosecutor, so my senses will have nothing to do with what happens in this crime prosecution.

Reading above in the thread DFO’s use of “capital crime”, it was on my brain, and I didn’t drop everything to research Idaho code for the proper term for what is a shockingly callous taking of a life. From what I understand the facts to be the alleged murderer was at a bar, had a fight over something ridiculous with the victim, was asked to leave, some time later (hours, maybe?) the victim left the bar, a car drove up, rolled down the window, and the alleged murderer shot the victim in the head, and the victim died shortly thereafter. Sounds planned to me, if the perpetrator actually lied in wait for the victim.

I have no interest in debating legal terminology or the death penalty here. Those are issues of great complexity.

But there is a family this Mother’s Day without a son because some jackass appears to have felt disrespected. That’s a heinous and despicable crime, however it’s officially labelled.
spokelooneh on May 10 at 6:13 p.m.
Premeditation and lying in wait are typically elements in charging first degree murder, but are not enough, near as I can tell, to warrant the death penalty.

It will be interesting to see if their are any racist issues in this case. Am not sure how or if Idaho law provides for enhanced sentencing due to hate, I.e. the murderer exhibiting hostility against the victim, because of the victim’s race, in this case Native American. ” I’m gonna kill you because you’re an F’n praire n-word”

Looks to me from what we know like the perp is quite likely to be found guilty of First Degree Murder and properly, a life without parole sentence. How do you enhance that?

On the other hand you see cases all the time where people are sentenced to 100, 200 years or more, essentially life without parole sentence, without specifically saying so.
hmoffsuite on May 10 at 6:33 p.m.
And then there are cases where they get life but have a possibility of parole and they are on the street again in 12 years, or whatever. If they don’t get a change of venue, he will have the book thrown at him, I think. Cda is a tough jury crowd.
EagleKeeper44 on May 10 at 6:41 p.m.
Yes, it’s going to be interesting to follow how
this all goes down in our legal system. Regardless
of how this crime is classified, IMHO, this perf needs
to spend some seriously long time in prison. To take
someones life over a drink mixup is beyond my
ol’ brains understanding. Guess a human life is going
pretty cheap these days… :(
Sadbuttrue on May 10 at 6:47 p.m.
Mike,

Now that I reviewed what I wrote, I did come across a tad bit accusatory toward you. For that I am sorry.

I overreacted based on what I have seen the police do repeatedly in these cases, and that is they become unbending advocates on behalf of a preconcieved outcome, regardless of the actual legal merits. And the Courts and the taxpayer are too often held hostage as a result.

It would be compounding a tragedy - the senseless murder of this college student with another; senselessly seeking the death penalty when there is no chance that it will get imposed. That would be a mistake for which the taxpayers will pay dearly.
hmoffsuite on May 10 at 7:44 p.m.
I am somewhat curious if there is a possiblity that the Feds could get involved since the victim was Native American.
concerndmom on January 29 at 6:58 p.m.
Does anyone know if this guy is still in jail? I haven’t heard anything over the news or newspapers about him. I know sheriffs department had to have him protected in jail because the inmates wanted their day with him…

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.