Bayview Man Pleads Guilty In Death

A Bayview man accused of causing the death of an elderly person in a car accident pleaded guilty Wednesday to vehicular manslaughter.

Dentle Eugene Walters, 78, died last June when his El Camino collided head-on with a car driven by Randall C. Hurt, 30, the Idaho State Police reported.

The accident occurred when Hurt abruptly crossed the center line on a straight section of Perimeter Road about 24 miles west of Bayview, according to ISP officials.

ISP officers said Hurt admitted drinking beer before the accident. But officials could not determine his blood alcohol level because samples of his blood were ruined when the rubber stoppers on two vials popped off.

Still, Hurt was charged with vehicular manslaughter by gross negligence, said Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Douglas will recommend the judge sentence Hurt to only three years in prison. Douglas will also recommend that Hurt be eligible for parole after two years.