Killer's release infuriates wildlife agents in Idaho

Casper Star Tribune ^ | February 05, 2005 | JOHN MILLER

[SLB]

Comments?

[SLB]

Okay - should he have gotten more than a manslaughter conviction? After being on a jury a few months back I can see how easy it is for the jury to end up considering the victim and not the accused as really being on trial.

[jocon307]

My comment: I won't be surprised if this guy kills again.

[ScottFromSpokane]

"Anybody that commits first-degree murder shouldn't get out of prison," Loveland said. "Claude Dallas should at least do life."

The courts disagree.

Nonsense. The law disagrees.

Frankly, I have no idea about the facts of the killings, but I do know that he was only convicted of manslaughter and must be released when his sentence is up. "The courts" have nothing to say about it.

[Vigilanteman]

Very similar circumstances to the Gordon Kahl case, IMHO.

[muawiyah]

When Mr. Dallas took his .22 and went around and finished those guys off, he took advantage of his superior position to commit murder.

In most of the country, except Idaho and Massachusetts, he'd gone on trial for that and the jury wouldn't have been given the degree of latitude they had.

Given that the "law" failed to bring this mad-dog killer to heel, it's gonna' be up to other people. Maybe Mr. Dallas will get lost in the woods somewhere.

It's a big woods you know!

[SLB]

Are you familiar with the case of Mel Ignato in Louisville? He was acquitted of murdering his girlfriend and later pictures of him killing her were found. He is still in jail on perjury, but someday he will walk out a "free" man. Don't know how long it will be before he makes a visit to the morgue.

[SpyGuy]

Had the verdict reduction been a case of legal trickery or the result of a technical "rights" violation, then I'd be outraged. But it appears that the jurors honestly believed that Dallas was the original victim in this case. Should we be second guessing them now without the benefit of the facts and testimony?

I will say that I'm very disturbed by the coup de grâce administered by Dallas. But we have to trust that the jury in this case thought they had made the correct decision in reducing the charges to manslaughter.

(Unlike the O.J. Simpson case where the jury chose to completely overlook Simpson's obvious guilt in order to make a racist political statement.)

[craig61a]

I was stationed at Mountain Home AFB Idaho when this occured, and as I recall, one officers body was thrown into the river; the other was buried somewhere in Nevada. I can't remember if they ever found the one buried in Nevada, I imagine that it was located at some point.

I think the mindset back in those days for some was that they lived in the wilderness and took what they needed. I think Dallas had some prior run ins with the BLM. But a lot of folks living in the wild had some resentment towards rangers.

I never really followed the case much after I left Idaho in 82, but I do recall the capture of him after he escaped. I guess I just figured he would rot in jail after all he had done. Too bad that's not the case.

[Lion Den Dan]

I am kind of the opinion that the jury, in posession of the sworn testimony and observing Dallas, made a decision that the community could live with. I am not a "Cop Hater," but I have known a couple that needed extermination as they were killers looking for the chance while they hid behind their badge.

I doubt this Dallas guy wil kill again unless someone pushes him.

[jocon307]

"Unlike the O.J. Simpson case where the jury chose to completely overlook Simpson's obvious guilt in order to make a racist political statement."

That may indeed have been the jury's desire, but I do think the case suffered from prosecutorial blunders. The gloves that didn't fit being only the most memorable. One stumbling block that remains for me, even though I'm quite sure OJ Simpson killed those people, is that in a case like that you'd expect to have buckets of blood. The DA had only drops, maybe droplets. Needing to convict "beyond a reasonable doubt" I've never been sure about the jury's motive.

But he is shunned. But he is a moron, so he doesn't mind. Too bad his children may end up destroyed because of it.

[niteowl77]

Here's my comment: when a poacher executes another human being with a shot to the head, he's an asshole. When he does it to two wounded human beings, he's a monster.

But what do I know? Hell, there's hunting/trapping forums that have people talking about Dallas like he's some kind of hero.

[Logophile]

His 30-year sentence was cut by eight years for good behavior, despite a 1986 prison escape in which he was on the run for a year.

Even those who agree with the manslaughter conviction would have to admit that this does not sound like "good behavior."

[tupac]

Dallas = Mumia

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

I'm not excusing the guy, but Fish and Game has had a reputation of arrogance in the past. If Pogue did indeed threaten him, he overstepped his bounds.

Of course, finishing the guys off with the rifle was murder.

[ORECON]

The guy got away with two murders much like O.J. Simpson. He escapes prison and is on the lam for over a year and still gets out on good behavior. He and O.J. both should have received death sentences.

[TheBattman]

VICTIM???? I don't give a darned what the jury of limp-wristed jerks decided back then - It matters not what the jury felt about the perp. HE blasted the officers with a handgun, then went and got ANOTHER gun and shot them both in the head to MAKE SURE they were DEAD. He then disposed of the bodies.

Excuse me, but that is 100% Capitol Murder - PERIOD. I don't care if this poacher was supposedly "providing for a family" or "doing what he needed to". The EXACT same thing could be said for a lot of burglars and bank robbers -

The SOB should have gotten the electric chair or hanged. At the BARE MINIMUM, he should never have seen the light of day.

I guess justice just doesn't matter to some folks.

[stormer]

If I recall the Olsen book (and I have it around here somewhere), at the time most game agents in Idaho didn't cary sidearms.

[stormer]

Absolutely agree. My question is if Dallas thought what he had done was justified, why did he go on the lam after it happened? He was harbored by many of his friends and as far as I recall, none of them were charged with abetting.

[muawiyah]

Hmmm. Those folks on those particular discussion forums may be subject to monitoring by "interested parties" who know where the deepest parts of the woods might be located.

It's probably not wise on the part of the whackjobs to stir up the Forestry folks.