Husband says they weren’t blocking Ellington’s SUV

The husband of a woman killed in an alleged road rage incident tearfully testified about her death Tuesday morning.

Jonathan Wade Ellington is accused of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery after a New Year’s Day 2006 incident in which he is accused of deliberately running over 41-year-old Vonette Larsen with his Chevy Blazer and ramming her daughter’s car.

Ellington allegedly was playing a “cat-and-mouse” game with Vonette Larsen’s daughters, passing them, confronting them and then leading them on a high-speed chase that their parents eventually joined. The incident ended on Scarcello Road in Athol, where Ellington is accused of deliberately attacking the Larsen family with his Chevy Blazer as Joel Larsen fired a .44-caliber pistol at the Hayden man.

During a cross-examination by defense attorney Chris Schwartz, Joel Larsen testified Tuesday that he told police he wanted to protect the car his daughters were in by having his wife shield them with her Subaru, and that they weren’t trying block in Ellington.

But Ellington contends he was fleeing for his life because the Larsens had chased him and then tried to trap him on Scarcello Road. His attorneys say Ellington acted in self-defense when he hit the Larsen family’s cars and ran over Vonette Larsen after she got out of her Subaru to reach her daughters’ car.

Schwartz said nowhere during preliminary hearings or during interviews with police did Joel Larsen specifically say he wanted to “block (Ellington) from hitting the kids,” but had said he wanted to block him and to “get in front,” never mentioning the girls.

“I’m not a man of big words,” Larsen said, explaining when he said to get in front, he meant to protect the white Honda Accord that his daughters – Jovon and Joleen – were in, and that he was shaken by the incident. “My wife had just splattered all over the road.”

Larsen also testified that it did not look like Ellington had any loss of control when driving toward Vonette Larsen.

“None whatsoever,” Joel Larsen said.

He said when Vonette saw Ellington’s Chevy Blazer coming toward her she tried to get out of the way “because it was obvious she wasn’t going to make it.”

The testimony is crucial to the prosecution’s case that Ellington purposely hit Vonette Larsen, and rammed and pushed Jovon Larsen’s car with his Blazer. Defense attorneys contend that Ellington had no time to react to being shot at by Joel Larsen when he fled and hit Vonette.

When Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Art Verharen asked Larsen why he did not touch his wife as she lay on the ground, Larsen gave graphic testimony of her condition and said she was obviously dead, her eyes looking straight forward and wide open.

“Her jaw was torn over to the side,” Larsen said, pausing after the questions, trying to mutter answers to questions but failing. He began to cry and grabbed a tissue to wipe his eyes.

For the sixth time since jury selection, defense attorneys moved for a mistrial after an Idaho State Police detective testified he believed Ellington intentionally rammed the white Honda Accord.

“There is a lack of evidence that the (Blazer) was out of control,” said Detective Sean Daly. When asked by Verharen why no speeds were calculated based on tire markings, Daly said that high speeds are generally a factor in car crashes that might be considered accidents, but that “this wasn’t an accident, in my opinion.”

“I think that answer was designed to inflame the jury,” said Deputy Public Defender Anne Taylor. Judge John Luster, however, denied her motion, although defense attorneys had asked that Daly not give his opinion of the incident.