Man in fatal Coeur d’Alene shooting pleads guilty

A man who fatally shot another man after a fight at a Coeur d’Alene bar last year pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder. Juan C. Aldana Villanueva, 23, is in Kootenai County Jail awaiting sentencing for the murder of Timothy I. Wolfe, 21, on May 9, 2009. Villanueva, who worked at a Post Falls restaurant, had argued with Wolfe, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe who was home from college for Mother’s Day, at a Coeur d’Alene bar before Villanueva left, then returned to the downtown area with a gun, according to court documents. Wolfe was shot to death near Third Street and Indiana Avenue about 2:15 a.m. Villanueva claimed self-defense, and police noted scratches on his face where he said Wolfe’s friends had attacked him. Villanueva had been charged with first-degree murder but pleaded to the lesser charge in Kootenai County District Court on Monday. He faces 10 years to life in prison.