Convicted murderer Lee files another appeal

Convicted triple murderer John Lee is appealing the Dec. 6 denial of a motion to release evidence he says is no longer relevant to his case to the Idaho Supreme Court.

In his appeal, Lee wrote that $11,000 to $12,000 in cash was found in his backpack when he was arrested and the money has not been returned.

“That money was not directly involved with my crime nor was it obtained illegally,” Lee wrote.

Lee is incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution at Kuna for the Jan. 10, 2015, shooting deaths of his adoptive mother, Terri Grzebielski, 61; his landlord, David Trail, 76; and Moscow Arby’s manager Belinda Niebuhr, 47. He also shot and injured 40-year-old Michael Chin of Seattle.

Lee wrote he could have used the money, which is being kept as evidence, to hire “quality private attorneys.” He wrote the money was kept from him to intentionally destroy his defense.

Lee initially filed a motion to release evidence no longer relevant to the case on Oct. 3, according to court documents. The state filed an objection Oct. 6 on the basis the money had “evidentiary value” and that all potentially relevant evidence should be kept pending the results of Lee’s appeals.

Lee was sentenced to life in prison May 24 for three first-degree murder counts and one aggravated battery after he accepted a plea agreement from the state. The plea eliminated the death sentence possibility and in exchange Lee waived his right to appeal, although he has since filed appeals.