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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho man gets 20 years for kidnapping, rape

Michael David Nixon (Kootenai County Jail)
A Coeur d’Alene man will spend at least 20 years behind bars for beating, raping and tying up a 13-year-old female relative last year. Michael David Nixon, 32, spent most of today’s hour-long sentencing hunched forward with his head down, shaking. His lawyer and a sister described how Nixon and his siblings were severely abused as children. “This is a family that saw horrendous, horrendous things together,” Kootenai County Deputy Public Defender Mayli Walsh said. She asked 1st District Judge Fred M. Gibler to give Nixon a minimum of two years in prison, arguing that with treatment he would pose a low risk to society. Walsh said Nixon suffers from major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. “I ask the court not to throw Mike away for the rest of his life,” Walsh said. Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh recommended a sentence of at least 25 years in prison. He said Nixon had admitted to investigators that he long had fought the urge to commit such a crime. The victim could have been anyone, McHugh said. That the victim was a close relative who trusted Nixon makes the crime especially egregious, he added. Nixon broke her nose and choked her during an attack that lasted hours, and he bound her to a chair with duct tape, McHugh said. Anything less than a long jail term would “not give us comfort that that monster doesn’t reappear,” he said. Gibler said he believes Nixon does pose a significant threat to the public. “Words can’t do justice to the level of viciousness of the attack,” he said. The judge acknowledged the testimony of abuse Nixon and his siblings suffered as children and said he doesn’t doubt that Nixon’s conduct was affected by his childhood and mental disorders. That this was his first violent crime – and one in which he violated a trust relationship – shows that Nixon’s conduct is “unpredictable at best,” Gibler said. He sentenced Nixon to life in prison with a fixed term of 20 years for first-degree kidnapping and 20 years for rape. The sentences will be served concurrently with credit for 512 days served since Nixon’s arrest. The assault occurred on July 1, 2013. The girl was able to escape and seek help. When police arrived at the house on North Seventh Street, Nixon refused to come out, beginning a nine-hour standoff. In what McHugh described as a suicide attempt, Nixon cut himself. Police also detected a natural gas leak in the home. Jennifer Moore, Nixon’s older sister, wept as she told the court about their traumatic childhood. She and her three younger siblings often were homeless, living with their mother in motels, cars or on the street. Their mom married a man who inflicted physical, emotional and sexual abuse on the family, Moore said. “I don’t think what happened (in this case) is the person he is,” she said of her brother. “I know he’s sick and needs help, but I still love him.”