Trial ordered in Moscow shooting death
MOSCOW, Idaho – A magistrate judge has ruled there’s enough evidence to merit a trial for a Moscow man charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of an acquaintance.
Nathaniel H. Nisbet, 28, is charged with second-degree murder after prosecutors said he shot and killed 42-year-old Charles “Pat” McMichael during a confrontation at a Moscow home on Nov. 10.
Magistrate John C. Judge made the ruling Thursday at a preliminary hearing, sending the case to 2nd District Court for trial, the Lewiston Tribune reported.
Police said the shooting took place at the Bel Air Mobile Park.
McMichael’s wife, Molly McMichael, testified Thursday that she and her husband were to help Erica Rossomando, Nisbet’s wife, change the locks and fix door jambs on her mobile home. Rossomando said she and her husband were separated and that Nisbet wasn’t supposed to be at the home.
When Pat McMichael went to the trailer, he found the door locked, the women said. When Rossomando tried to unlock the door, she said she found it was blocked. She said Pat McMichael pushed his way through, and that she thought she saw Nisbet near the kitchen.
“Pat barreled through me, into the door, through the house,” Rossomando said.
The women said they heard three or four noises described as breaking glass, followed by a pause and then three or four more noises. Rossomando said she pushed her way into the trailer and heard three “pops.” She then slid to the floor by a filing cabinet with her arm up in a defensive position.
“At that point, I saw Pat on the floor,” Rossomando said.
She said she next saw Nisbet standing in the hallway holding a 9 mm Beretta pistol.
Latah County Prosecutor William Thompson Jr. told the court the evidence showed Nisbet shot Pat McMichael multiple times with a “discernible amount of time between rounds.”
Thompson said an autopsy showed the first shot was fatal, and that McMichael had three shots to his chest. McMichael wasn’t armed, Thompson said.
Nisbet is being held in the Latah County Jail.