Coeur d’Alene murder suspect shot himself after sheriff’s deputy blocked his way

A Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputy was standing just down the road from murder suspect Steven T. Denson, waiting for backup, when Denson shot himself.

Around 4 p.m. Thursday someone called 911 to report seeing Denson’s vehicle near Hauser Lake Road and Kopf Road. Denson had a warrant out for his arrest charging him with killing his former fiance, 37-year-old Kelly Pease, in a parking lot at Kootenai Health on Wednesday.

A deputy was driving west on state Highway 53 to search for Denson when he spotted Denson’s vehicle in a line of oncoming traffic and turned around to follow him, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office news release. As he turned, he saw Denson turn onto Bruss Road.

When the deputy turned on Bruss Road he saw Denson turn around in a driveway and drive directly toward him. The deputy used his car to block the road, turned on his overhead lights and got out of his car to wait for backup, the news release said.

Less than a minute later the deputy heard what sounded like a muffled gunshot from Denison’s vehicle. Deputies used binoculars to determine that Denson appeared to have shot himself.

Pease, a nursing student at North Idaho College, was the mother of five children. Denson was arrested in January for allegedly assaulting Pease but had been released on bond.