Prosecutor: Renfro could face death penalty
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - An attempted murder charge against Jonathan Renfro is expected to be amended to first degree murder early Thursday morning, following the death of Sergeant Greg Moore, the Coeur d'Alene police officer he allegedly shot on Tuesday morning. Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh would not comment on the case but did tell KHQ it's possible Renfro could be looking at the death penalty. If McHugh files an intent to seek the death penalty it'll be the second time he's done so in less than a year.
If an intent to seek is filed, it'll be up to a jury when the case goes to trial if the death penalty will be enforced. According to Idaho state law there are only three crimes that would warrant the death penalty; first degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and perjury resulting in the execution of an innocent person. First a jury would have to determine if Renfro is guilty of first degree murder and then they have to determine if that murder meets a different set of criteria, known as aggravated circumstances. These aggravated circumstances range from if the crime is especially heinous to if the person who committed the crime also killed another person in that same day.
KHQ spoke with a former criminal prosecutor who said he wouldn't be surprised if the death penalty was sought in Renfro's case.
Peter Erbland said, "If in fact the officer was attempting to contact this individual, responding to a call and he was killed because he was performing those duties, then that's a statutory aggravating circumstance."
Court documents detail the events leading up to Moore being shot. He was called into a northwest Coeur d'Alene neighborhood investigating a suspicious persons call. According to a police affidavit, Renfro repeatedly admitted to shooting Moore, telling investigators he had a gun on him and knew the officer would find it.
Renfro is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on the 15th.
http://www.khq.com/story/28999554/pr...-death-penalty
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