3 children found dead in Twin Falls home
TWIN FALLS, Idaho – An Idaho man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree murder in the deaths of three young children whose bodies were found in the home they shared.
Jim Junior Nice, 33, of Twin Falls was found with the bodies after police were called to the house to check on the children’s welfare, Twin Falls Police Chief Jim Munn said. Nice was taken into custody at the scene, questioned at the police station and then arrested.
Records show Nice had lived at the house since January 1995. Police have not said whether he is related to the children, whose names have not been released.
But Boise television station KTVB quoted an unnamed relative as saying Nice was the children’s father. The relative described the victims as twin boys, approximately 5 years old, and a girl, about 18 months old.
Sgt. John Wilson of the Twin Falls Police Department would say only that all three children were under the age of 10 and that their bodies had no visible signs of trauma.
“This is a tragic event for our community,” Munn said at a brief news conference. “Our hearts truly go out to the family of these children.”
He said the investigation “will take time to complete.”
Nice was being charged with three counts of first-degree murder, Munn said. He had not been booked into the Twin Falls County Jail early Wednesday evening, officials said.
Police officers discovered the bodies of the three children when they were called to do a welfare check at the home Wednesday morning. Nice and the victims were alone in the single-family home, Wilson said.
Neighbors said that the children sometimes played in a treehouse in front of the home.
“They weren’t out much; they stayed to themselves,” said Laura Sales, a neighbor who also confirmed that Nice lived there with the children.
Other neighbors said the family regularly attended a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel.
Jennifer Daugherty, who lives half a block away from the Nice home, said her 5-year-old daughter, Hannah, rode bikes with the children.
“I don’t think she completely understands what is going on,” she said Wednesday evening, looking at her daughter.
“That’s the worst part,” said Daugherty. “Nobody knew anything was going on.”