Killer Won’T Be Sentenced To Execution Eby’S Age, Abusive Childhood Cited

Daniel L. Eby will not be sentenced to die for the beating death of a 53-year-old Post Falls man, a judge decided Monday.

While Melvin Evenson was killed during a robbery attempt, 1st District Judge Gary Haman decided Eby’s abusive childhood and age justified leniency. Eby was 18 when Evenson was killed.

“Certainly, a severe sentence is required, but the goals of society can be achieved short of imposition of the death penalty,” Haman wrote in court papers filed Monday.

Under Idaho law, a murder committed during the commission of a robbery allows a judge to impose the death penalty.

Prosecutors, at the request of the victim’s family and because of Eby’s age, recommended against the death penalty. Family members asked Haman during a hearing last month to argue aggravating and mitigating factors to sentence Eby to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Eby’s mother, Terri Halsell, blamed her son’s methamphetamine habit for his involvement in Evenson’s murder. She asked Haman to consider the abuse her son endured and watched her receive from her boyfriends when deciding on a sentence.

Eby is scheduled to be sentenced by Haman on Jan. 8. A jury convicted the 19-year-old Wallace man in June of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery.

The murder conviction carries a mandatory life prison term, but Haman must determine how much of the sentence Eby must serve before he becomes eligible for parole. The robbery charges carry potential five-year terms.

Jeremy Schmitz, Eby’s 15-yearold cousin, is serving a 10-years-tolife sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Schmitz’ 45-year-old stepfather, Clifford Hicks, pleaded guilty to accessory to murder for helping to clean up the crime scene and is serving a five-year prison sentence.

Eby has maintained that Hicks planned and committed the murder, leaving him and Schmitz to take the blame.