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

Attempted murder charge dropped in pastor’s shooting

Odom (COURTESY OF KOOTENAI COUNTY JAIL)

The man accused of shooting Coeur d’Alene Pastor Tim Remington six times no longer faces a charge of attempted murder.

The Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office dropped that charge Wednesday and instead has charged Kyle Andrew Odom with aggravated battery.

Both crimes carry the same maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but battery can be easier to prove because it’s a “general intent” crime rather than a “specific intent” crime. The prosecution only needs to prove Odom meant to shoot Remington, not that he intended to cause him injury.

Prosecutors also are charging Odom with using a deadly weapon in committing the felony, which could give him another 15 years behind bars if convicted.

“We talked with the Remington family and law enforcement in advance of making the change to the complaint,” Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh said Wednesday.

Remington, the pastor at The Altar Church, survived being shot six times with a .45-caliber handgun on March 6 outside the church he founded. He continues to recuperate at his home near Coeur d’Alene and is again walking.

Remington has said he forgives Odom and wants to try to help rehabilitate him.

Odom was arraigned May 9 and is being held in jail on a $500,000 bond. A preliminary hearing, set for June 3, will establish whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence of the crimes.

Odom is represented by the Kootenai County Public Defender’s office. Public Defender John Adams said he had no comment Wednesday on the amended charges against Odom.

U.S. Secret Service agents arrested Odom outside the White House on March 8 after he was seen throwing flash drives and other materials over the south fence of the president’s residence. He was extradited to Kootenai County.

Police said the former Marine and University of Idaho graduate with a history of mental illness mailed letters and electronic documents to his parents and several media outlets saying he plotted to kill Remington because he believed the pastor was part of a vast alien conspiracy to enslave the human race.