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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Warrant issued for kidnapping suspect

Compiled from staff and wire reports The Spokesman-Review

A $500,000 warrant has been issued for the arrest of James V. Gitto, 32, who is accused of kidnapping, choking and viciously beating his 22-year-old wife in the presence of their two young children.

Gitto, a laborer, and his family were living in the Bates Motel in Coeur d’Alene and had recently come from the Seattle area, according to a Coeur d’Alene Police report.

Neighbors at the motel heard Gitto and his wife yelling at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, and then saw them leave, police reported. Witnesses told police Gitto’s wife had a hand over her eye.

Gitto’s wife, who was interviewed at the hospital, told police that Gitto had beaten and choked her until she lost consciousness, drove her south of town, parked and made her crawl under a barbed wire fence and walk up a hill. He tied her to a tree and said he would kill her later or let her die there, according to the report.

After he left, she freed herself and flagged down a car, which took her to Kootenai Medical Center, according to the report. Police documented her many injuries, including bruises, cuts, a swollen eye and cigarette burns.

Marano hands over adult drug court duties

After nearly six years, Kootenai County Magistrate Gene Marano is giving up his night job.

Marano no longer will preside over the county’s adult drug court, which is a rehabilitation-type program offenders agree to complete in lieu of jail time.

First District Judge Penny Friedlander will take over the night court in June. Friedlander has been shadowing Marano for four months to learn how the program works.

“It wears you down after a while,” said Marano. “I’m worn out. It’s all at night — extra duty for no extra compensation or no time off.”

Yet Marano said he still has faith in the drug court program.

In his April 7 resignation letter to the Idaho Supreme Court, Marano wrote: “My confidence in (drug courts’) effectiveness has grown with every session.”

Marano will now focus on his regular magistrate duties.

District, magistrate judges to get administrator

District and magistrate court judges in North Idaho are looking forward to having some logistical help soon with the hire of a trial court administrator.

District Judge Charles Hosack, the administrative judge for the 1st District, said the Idaho Supreme Court is currently in the process of hiring an administrator who will handle all the scheduling and administrative court duties in the five northern counties.

Since Magistrate Judge Don Swanstrom retired last year, those duties have been handled by Hosack and Magistrate Judge Debra Heise. Swanstrom was formerly the trial court administrator and a judge.

Now the 1st District will join Idaho’s six other court districts in hiring an administrator to handle the budgetary and scheduling issues of the courts, freeing up judges for legal work. Swanstrom was replaced by Magistrate Penny Friedlander. The new administrative hire is expected to by made by July 1.

Family of owls relocated from hospital

Caldwell, Idaho It may have seemed like a safe home to four baby barn owls and their parents, but the nursing staff at West Valley Medical Center thought otherwise.

The adult owls apparently found their way into the third-floor wall of the hospital, which is undergoing some construction. They built a nest, had four chicks and early Wednesday the mother owl decided to take a short flight into the skilled nursing unit. Construction workers called Betty Duggan, who runs the Idaho Raptor Rehabilitation Center from her home in Kuna. She netted the mother owl. Construction workers managed to catch the father owl, and cut a small hole in the wall to retrieve the baby owls.

Duggan distributed the baby owls to established barn owl nests across Canyon County, where they will likely be accepted by surrogate parents.