In brief: Man pleads guilty to beating wife
A man accepted responsibility Monday for brutally beating and kidnapping his wife earlier this year.
Matthew R. Carden Sr., 40, pleaded guilty in federal court to felony assault, kidnapping and being a felon in possession of a firearm after the Jan. 9 assault near Nespelem, Wash., according to court testimony.
The beating left his 37-year-old wife seriously injured with two broken orbital bones around her eyes, a broken collar bone and a fractured rib. Also as part of the crime, Carden took a 30.06 rifle and struck his wife with the barrel before twice pulling the trigger of the unloaded rifle while pointing it at her, according to court testimony.
U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush asked Carden why he beat his wife so severely following a night of drinking, in which five people reportedly drank 2 1/2 gallons of whiskey. “Jealousy … and drinking,” Carden responded.
Prosecutors are recommending a nine-year prison term.
Homeowner tax exemption reduced
Kootenai County homeowners will be able to deduct less from their property’s taxable value this year than they did last year.
The maximum homeowner’s exemption for 2012 is $83,974, down from $92,040 last year, according to the Kootenai County Assessor’s Office.
The homeowner’s exemption allows the taxable value to be reduced by 50 percent of the value of land and buildings, up to a maximum amount. The exemption rises and falls with the Idaho State Tax Commission’s housing price index. For example, if a property owner’s land and buildings are assessed at $300,000, the homeowner’s exemption would subtract $83,974. That property owner would then be taxed on the remaining $216,026.
The exemption has been falling since 2009. The assessor’s office said in a news release that the Idaho housing price index, on which it is based, has declined by nearly 26 percent since its all-time high in the first quarter of 2008.
Injury crash investigated as assault
One person was injured in a Sunday night crash in Pend Oreille County that is being investigated as vehicular assault.
James D. Clayton, 35, of Bremerton, was headed south on Sullivan Creek Road around 9:45 p.m. when he crossed into the northbound lane, overcorrected and rolled his 1997 Ford Explorer, the Washington State Patrol reported. The accident occurred about 13 miles south of Metaline, Wash.
Though Clayton denied aid for minor injuries, his passenger, Janelle L. Haux, 50, of Spokane, was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Neither of them was wearing a seat belt, the WSP said.
Pend Oreille County took Clayton into custody for DUI and warrants, the WSP said.
Investigators suspect drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash, and charges are pending.
Metal thief to pay restitution
A man who stole metal as part of a licensed business has been ordered to pay about $250,000 in restitution.
Tristan M. Goiri-Christensen, 26, a former Crime Stoppers fugitive, pleaded guilty last week to first-degree theft and eight counts of first-degree trafficking in stolen property and was credited for a day already spent in jail. He’s to be on probation for a year.
Goiri-Christensen is part of a band of suspected metal thieves who created a Spokane-based business, complete with licenses from the Washington Department of Revenue, to get around state laws designed to discourage theft by making it tougher for individuals to sell stolen metal to scrap yards.
The state exempts licensed businesses from the mandatory 10-day waiting period for payments of more thanover $30 on scrap metal sold to recyclers. The thefts cost Avista Utilities thousands of dollars.