Olson confirmed as U.S. attorney for Idaho

The U.S. Senate has unanimously confirmed Wendy J. Olson as the next U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho.

U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Winmill will swear in Olson on Friday. Olson had been working as an assistant under U.S. Attorney Thomas Moss, who held the position since 2001.

Olson joined the office in March 1997 and tried numerous cases, including the capital murder case involving Joseph Duncan , who killed three members of the Groene family in 2005 in order to kidnap and molest the family’s two youngest children; only one, 8-year-old Shasta, survived. A jury sentenced Duncan to death in August 2008.

Olson earned her undergraduate degree from Drake University in 1986 and law degree from Stanford Law School in 1990. From 1992 to 1997, Olson worked for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. As Betsy Russell explains at Eye on Boise , Olson was confirmed quickly compared to other U.S. attorneys.