Accused cop killer Jonathan Renfro pleads to lesser charges before murder trial begins

Just days before his death-penalty case was set to begin, Jonathan D. Renfro pleaded guilty to a couple lesser charges stemming from the night that a Coeur d’Alene Police officer was killed in 2015.

Renfro, 29, pleaded guilty Thursday to grand theft and attempting to elude a police officer, according to court records. However, Renfro remains scheduled to appear Monday to stand trial for first-degree murder in connection to the May 5, 2015, shooting death of Sgt. Greg Moore.

First District Court Judge Lansing Haynes has instituted a gag order barring attorneys from speaking about the case. The trial could last more than a month. If Renfro is found guilty, the jury would then be asked whether he should face the death penalty.

Moore, a 16-year veteran of the department, was shot in the head on May 5, 2015, by a suspect who then stole the officers patrol car. Renfro was arrested several hours later when officers cornered him in the a Wal-Mart parking lot in Post Falls.

Prosecutors have alleged that Renfro used his own gun to shoot Moore in the 2800 block of Wilbur Avenue, in northwest Coeur d’Alene, and then taking Moore’s gun as he lay on the ground.

Doctors kept Moore alive for hours, but he died at 5:50 p.m. on May 5, 2015, at Kootenai Health. Renfro was then charged with first-degree murder.