Murder case ends, another near

RIGBY, Idaho – A guilty plea cut short one Jefferson County murder trial as investigators there prepare for the trial of a double homicide defendant.

Margarito Alvarez pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder for shooting and killing Brent Edelmayer, 20, on Dec. 1, 2002, near Roberts. His plea came on the day jury selection began for the trial.

Instead of a trial, Alvarez, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 18 for murdering Edelmayer on a county gravel road south of Roberts. He could be sentenced to life in prison.

Two witnesses testified they believe Alvarez killed Edelmayer over drugs. Edelmayer was last seen the night of Dec. 1 leaving his mother’s house with the suspect.

Alvarez pleaded innocent to the charges in January.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are preparing for the trial of Shana Parkinson Whitmore, 38, who pleaded innocent in March to the stabbing deaths of ex-husband Greg Whitmore, 38, and his girlfriend, Karen Cummings, 29, while they slept at Whitmore’s home Feb. 1.

A date has not been set for the delayed trial, originally slated to begin Tuesday.