Man Gets 5 Years For Role In Murder He Helped Hide Body; Stepson Admits Guilt

A Wallace man who helped his stepson hide the body of a man who had been beaten to death was sentenced Monday to five years in prison.

Clifford Hicks received the maximum penalty for being an accessory to murder following a guilty plea last year, said Lansing Haynes, chief deputy prosecutor.

Hicks, 45, pleaded guilty in November to being an accessory to murder to avoid the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. He admitted to a judge he had helped hide Melvin Evenson’s body and other evidence.

Prosecutors had considered recommending that Hicks be sentenced as a habitual offender, which could have netted a life sentence. They agreed not to do so when Hicks pleaded guilty.

Hicks’ stepson, Jeremy Schmitz, also accepted a plea bargain. Schmitz pleaded guilty to second-degree murder two days after his stepfather admitted his role in Evenson’s death. The 15-year-old is scheduled to be sentenced next week and faces up to life in prison.

Schmitz’s 18-year-old cousin is scheduled to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge in May. Hicks and Schmitz both have agreed to testify against Daniel Eby.

An autopsy determined Evenson died of 10 blows to the head. Prosecutors allege the beating took place in a garage on Fantasy Loop Road in Rathdrum during a robbery attempt.

Prosecutors have said all three burned Evenson’s clothes and personal belongings, and cleaned up the shop before hiding the 52-year-old victim’s body.

Evenson’s naked body was found in April in the back of a pickup abandoned off Chilco Road.

The Post Falls man’s body had been bound with duct tape and hidden under a pile of cardboard boxes.

Schmitz, Eby and Hicks knew Evenson and worked with him occasionally at the private workshop.

, DataTimes