Man Indicted For Murder In Shooting His Former Girlfriend, A 38-Year-Old Mother Of 4, Was Shot In Neck Outside Plummer Bar

A 22-year-old Plummer, Idaho, man who is accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend June 10 has been indicted by a federal grand jury on second-degree murder charges.

Don Houser also has been indicted for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Houser shot Angie LaSarte in the neck outside of Bobbi’s bar in Plummer, witnesses said.

The 38-year-old mother of four was the daughter of longtime Coeur d’Alene tribal chairman Bernard “Happy” LaSarte.

According to court records, it is not the first time Houser, a volunteer firefighter and mechanic, has been accused of shooting at someone.

The most recent shooting ended what officials say was a violent relationship. Court records show that Angie LaSarte applied for a domestic violence protection order just weeks before her death.

LaSarte and Houser had been together for about 18 months, a friend of the two said.

“They had a tumultuous relationship that was fraught with violence,” assistant U.S. attorney James Peters said, citing court records. “Sometimes it would be she hitting him and sometimes it would be he hitting her.”

Others testified the violence sometimes brewed in public, Peters said.

On May 24, LaSarte went to the Benewah County Courthouse and applied for a domestic violence protection order against Houser.

A judge had to dismiss the order five days before the shooting because LaSarte failed to show up at the courthouse to sign the required paperwork.

Houser also had applied for a protection order against LaSarte. His protection order was put in place, Peters said.

On the night of June 10, LaSarte had gone to Bobbi’s bar and was sitting with a man named Nick Parker, said assistant attorney Peters.

Houser, who appeared to be drunk, showed up at the bar and started arguing with the man he saw sitting with his ex-girlfriend, Peters said.

Court records show that Houser’s friends restrained him, and eventually shoved him out of the bar, Peters said.

He walked to his truck across the street and got into it for a few minutes. LaSarte, who had walked out of the bar, followed behind him, Peters said.

“He came back across the street toward her, grabbed her, pulled her toward him and shot her,” Peters said.

Immediately, Houser started saying he didn’t mean to shoot the woman, claiming that he loved her, witnesses said.

LaSarte died in front of the bar from a single shot by a .22-caliber gun. Houser was arrested and is being held in jail without bail.

Houser’s relatives declined to comment about the case.

“He’s having a tough time of it and that’s about all I can say,” said Ed Houser, Don Houser’s father.

In 1992, police arrested Houser after he was accused of shooting another man in the arm.

Troy Nelson of Tensed, Idaho, told police that he and a friend had driven to Houser’s house. When they got to the Plummer home, Houser stepped outside and fired several shots at the men, according to a police report. Nelson claimed one of the bullets hit him in the arm.

Houser admitted shooting the gun but told police that he was merely trying to shoot out the truck tire because the men had been harassing him, according to a Plummer Police report.

Nelson later changed his story and told police that his arm may have been injured by broken glass shattered by the gunshot, according to the report.

Houser pleaded guilty to a charge of exhibiting a deadly weapon and was given a withheld judgment.

In his most recent charge, Houser will be arraigned in federal court in Moscow on Aug. 1.

Meanwhile, LaSarte’s family is grieving.

LaSarte’s children “took it bad, especially the little one,” said David LaSarte, Angie’s uncle. “He thought his mother was sleeping in the casket. He was trying to shake her and wake her up.”

, DataTimes