Jury Finds Luke Guilty In Beating Second Time Cda Man Convicted In Attack On Elderly Woman

A jury has again convicted Henry Luke of severely beating an 82-year-old woman.

Luke, 42, was convicted Tuesday of attempted voluntary manslaughter for attacking Dorothy Kjera in her home on Dec. 3, 1996.

Luke faced charges of second-degree attempted murder, but the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge.

“This man has a history,” said Kjera’s daughter, Janis Nielsen. “He just doesn’t belong on the streets.”

A pair of leather work gloves with “Luke” written on them was found at Kjera’s home after the beating. That evidence was the key to the case by Kootenai County prosecutors.

In 1997, Luke was convicted by a different jury of second-degree attempted murder and burglary in the same case.

Luke appealed, and the conviction was reversed this year by the Idaho Supreme Court.

This summer, a Kootenai County judge ruled Luke could stand trial again, so prosecutors filed charges.

“He’s not dealing with his problem,” Nielsen said. “He’s got to face what he does to people.”

Luke, a convicted sex offender who spent three years in an Alaska prison, pleaded guilty to battering a 73-year-old woman in 1994 in Coeur d’Alene.

During closing arguments Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Rick Baughman reminded jurors of Luke’s confession to Coeur d’Alene police the day after he attacked Kjera.

He also said the bloody crime scene at Kjera’s downtown Coeur d’Alene home showed that Luke “intended” to kill Kjera.

“All of the evidence points to him,” Baughman said.

Prosecutors allege Luke was in the area of Kjera’s home the afternoon of Dec. 3, 1996. Luke told police he had been shoveling snow that day.

Luke knocked on Kjera’s door, and she let him in, thinking he would shovel snow for her. After gaining entry, he locked the door and beat her, prosecutors said.

“This was an unprovoked attack,” Baughman said in court. “You don’t do this to an elderly 82-year-old.”

The jury deliberated for about eight hours before agreeing to convict Luke of attempted voluntary manslaughter.

Jurors were asked to first consider and decide on a second-degree attempted murder charge, then attempted voluntary manslaughter and then a battery charge.

Chief Public Defender John Adams argued police had no forensic evidence linking Luke to the crime scene.

Police found no blood on Luke’s clothing or any fingerprints matching Luke’s at the home.

He also said police failed to rule out a handyman, whom Kjera first identified as her attacker.

That man was released after family members gave him an alibi, which conflicted with other alibis, Adams said.

After Tuesday’s verdict, Adams said he was glad the jury did not convict Luke of the more serious charge, in which he would have faced up to 15 years in prison.

A sentencing date has not been set.