Hunter On Trial In Fatal Shooting Testimony Brings Back Difficult Memories For Family

Worn hunting boots, a backpack stuffed with cookies, a camouflage jacket stained with blood.

As he looked at his brother’s possessions, tears flowed down Erin Jenkins’ face.

Shawn Jenkins, 28, died Oct. 17 in the mountains north of Coeur d’Alene after another hunter accidentally shot him in the back.

“I went and put my arms around my brother and prayed for him and said goodbye to him,” said Erin Jenkins.

He spoke Monday, as the man who shot Shawn Jenkins went on trial.

John Michael Kohl, a father of five and an ordained minister, stands charged with involuntary manslaughter. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

“This is a crime that should not have happened,” said Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas during opening statements Monday.

Douglas said that although Kohl did not mean to shoot Shawn Jenkins, he acted recklessly.

“You have to be sure, positively certain of your target, before you squeeze the trigger of a high-power rifle,” Douglas said.

But Kohl’s attorney, Frederick Loats, indicated that the hunter had fired at a real elk, accidentally hitting a person.

“What happened on Oct. 17 was an accident, nothing more than an accident,” Loats said.

The trial is expected to last until Friday. Erin Jenkins took the stand Monday as the prosecution began presenting its case.

He told the jury how he and his brother set out that cold, clear morning to go elk hunting on the Kyle Ranch on Cedar Mountain. They hoped to bag “Stormin’ Norman,” a gargantuan elk they had seen roaming that area.

Erin Jenkins split from his brother, hoping to flush Norman out of the trees. Shawn waited at the other end, hoping to get a shot.

Erin Jenkins heard the boom of gunfire.

“I thought Shawn got that elk, he got Norman,” Jenkins said. But as he headed toward his brother, “I knew something was wrong. God reached down and grabbed me by the heart.”

Jenkins found his brother lying on the ground, a bullet hole in his back. Kohl was nearby, frantically calling for help with a cellular phone. “Oh my God, I just shot a guy,” Kohl told 911 emergency workers on a tape played Monday.

“He’s still breathing. He’s still breathing, come on please,” he told the operators as he struggled to give them directions.

According to the victim’s brother, Kohl said he fired his gun after seeing signs of elk, hearing movement and seeing a triangle-shaped object.

While the prosecution portrayed Kohl as reckless, his attorney said instead, “He goes overboard to be careful.”

Loats said his client grew up hunting deer in Pennsylvania and had even taught hunter safety courses. With an unblemished record, he moved to North Idaho to possibly start a Presbyterian church.

Although the Jenkins brothers had a standing invitation to hunt on the Kyle Ranch, they had not told the property owner they would be there that morning, Loats said.

Loats said his client had asked permission that day. But the owner was not able to tell him anyone else was there.

When Kohl later saw Jenkins’ truck, he walked away from where he thought they were hunting, Loats said.

“He heard a noise, he saw what he believed was an elk,” Loats said, explaining that Kohl checked his rifle scope to make sure it was an animal. “He saw an elk, he shot at an elk. He didn’t mistake (Jenkins) for an animal. He never saw him.”

During the trial, Kohl sat with his head bowed, wiping away tears. His young children sat behind him.

Erin Jenkins struggled during hours of testimony to contain his tears. His grief showed as he looked at pictures of his dead brother.

Afterward, he described how his younger brother left behind a son and pregnant wife. Laura Jenkins went into labor two months after her husband died.

“We about lost that baby,” Erin Jenkins said, explaining that the stress made labor extremely difficult for the young widow.

The boy was born healthy.

Laura Jenkins told the jury how she had helped her husband pack for the hunting trip and saw him off.

“I told him I loved him and I’d see him when he got home,” she said.