Bus Driver’S Accused Killer Ok’D For Trial

Sat., June 20, 1998

By John Craig johnc@spokesman.com

A mental patient accused of shooting a school bus driver to death in front of seven children in northern Stevens County has been ruled competent to stand trial.

Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker made that finding Friday on the basis of reports from doctors at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake, where suspect James E. Iverson has been undergoing treatment and evaluation for seven months.

But the same doctors said Iverson was insane at the time of the fatal shooting on Nov. 25.

Iverson, 46, has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic who hears voices in his head and believes citizen band radio transmissions cause implants in his teeth to release electric jolts.

He is suspected of shooting 61-year-old Orient school bus driver Frank M. Eslick to death when Eslick stopped his bus in front of Iverson’s home to let off students, including one of Iverson’s sons. When the wounded driver staggered off the bus, Iverson allegedly shot him again with a high-powered rifle.

Students in the bus, ranging from kindergartners to high schoolers, got out through an emergency door and barricaded themselves in a nearby home.

So far, Iverson has been charged only with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, but Prosecutor Jerry Wetle will seek additional charges when Iverson is arraigned July 1.

If the judge approves, Wetle said he will add seven counts of reckless endangerment - one for each student on the bus - and two counts of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon for shots fired about a half-hour earlier that day at two loggers in a pickup truck.

Iverson agreed to remain in the Stevens County Jail without bail, but reserved the right to argue for release when he is arraigned. Court-appointed defense attorney John Trobert will have 10 days after the arraignment to declare whether he intends to mount an insanity defense.

COURT CASE If a court agrees Iverson was insane at the time of the shooting, he can’t be convicted but could be sent to a mental institution for life. Suspected criminals committed to mental institutions may be released with restrictions if doctors find they are no longer dangerous.

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