Former Lover’S Testimony Squelched In Murder Trial Fifth Amendment Arguments Delay Trial Of Man Charged In Double Murder

The cross-examination of a key witness in a double murder trial was derailed Tuesday by the Fifth Amendment.

Dale C. Shackelford faces murder and arson charges in Latah County District Court for allegedly shooting his ex-wife Donna Fontaine and her boyfriend Fred Palahniuk at Fontaine’s property outside of Kendrick, Idaho, and then setting fire to the building where their bodies were found.

One of Shackelford’s past lovers and business associates, Martha Millar, was stopped in the midst of her testimony Tuesday morning by her lawyer. He told the court that Millar could have been on the verge of revealing that she had committed a federal crime.

On Monday, Millar, of Missouri, had testified to buying a gun in Idaho and, at Shackelford’s urging, making two separate attempts to kill Fontaine. On Tuesday, in his cross-examination of Millar, Shackelford’s attorney, D. Ray Barker, brought up the form she signed when she purchased the handgun from a Lewiston pawn shop. Legally, Millar needed to be an Idaho resident to buy a gun in the state.

“I had to put down some sort of Idaho address,” Millar said, adding that the owner knew she was from out of state.

At that point, attorney Thomas Whitney jumped from his seat and interrupted, saying that Millar could incriminate herself. While she has immunity from being charged with certain crimes relating to this case, she is not immune to federal charges, such as illegally purchasing a gun.

After a brief recess, Whitney told the court that Millar would invoke the Fifth Amendment and not incriminate herself with further testimony.

Barker said that if that’s the case, all of Millar’s testimony should be stricken and that Millar is not a credible witness.

Striking her testimony could be a huge loss to the prosecution. In the past two days, Millar has testified that Shackelford urged her to kill Fontaine numerous times. She also said that he had built a bomb to kill Fontaine and had shown her how it worked. She told the court that Shackelford had Bernadette Lasater leave the bomb at a laundromat where Fontaine was, but the bomb didn’t work.

After reading case law and listening to attorneys’ arguments for more than an hour, Judge John Stegner called an early recess Tuesday afternoon. The issue of what to do with Millar’s testimony will be discussed at a pre-trial hearing today at 8 a.m.

Barring other complications, Millar probably will finish her testimony and Lasater will take the stand today.

This sidebar appeared with the story: MURDER TRIAL Will fiancee testify?

The prosecutors in the Dale C. Shackelford case continue their efforts to compel Shackelford’s fiancee, Sonja Abitz, to testify.

So far her attorney, Tim Gresback, has managed to keep the Latah County resident from the witness stand on grounds that she could incriminate herself.

She and her mother, Mary Abitz, are charged as co-conspirators in the murders of Donna Fontaine and Fred Palahniuk. Both Abitzes are being held in the Latah County Jail and will face their own trial later this winter.

A hearing to determine whether Sonja Abitz can be compelled to testify is scheduled for Thursday at 8 a.m.