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When trying to decide whether Daniel Ehrlick Jr. and Melissa Jenkins can get fair trials in Ada County, 4th District Judge Darla Williamson went to a uniquely qualified source - the citizens who recently qualified for jury service. And though 86 percent of the 210 people who returned the survey said they had discussed, read about or heard about the cases, 57 percent of those said they could put aside what they'd heard and make a decision solely based evidence presented at trial.

The woman charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 8-year-old son Robert Manwill is a "self-admitted and diagnosed compulsive liar," her defense attorneys say. If Melissa Jenkins is forced to testify against her former boyfriend and co-defendant, Daniel Ehrlick, she will be setting herself up for a perjury charge - if she doesn't corroborate statements she made to Boise police and others about Ehrlick in the murder investigation - her defenders told 4th District Judge Darla Williamson Thursday. They also claim whatever Jenkins might say in Ehrlick's trial will make it even harder for her to get a...

Robert was first reported missing from the couple's Bench-area apartment July 24. The report sparked a weeklong community search that drew more than 2,300 volunteers, the FBI and national attention - as well as daily press conferences by the Boise police, many of which were attended by Ehrlick and Jenkins alongside other family members. The search ended in sorrow when Robert's body was found in the New York Canal between Boise and Kuna on Aug. 3. An Ada County grand jury indicted and charged Jenkins and Ehrlick with first-degree murder about two weeks later. Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/15/1267673/startling-new-details-in-manwill.html#ixzz0tlBhB6PM

Police investigating the disappearance of an Idaho boy missing for a week said Friday they are afraid the child may have been the victim of a tragedy.

The man accused of killing Robert Manwill says his lawyers are not doing a good enough job. Daniel Ehrlick Jr. filed a surprise motion Thursday claiming his public defenders "lied and misguided me on my case." In a boiler-plate one-page motion, Ehrlick indicated that he "feels badgered by the public defender's office" and that his attorneys have failed to file motions for him and have been hard to communicate with. He wants to get rid of his court-appointed public defenders before his first-degree murder trial begins later this year. Ehrlick, who is accused of killing 8-year-old Robert Manwill last summer,...

Mother, Boyfriend Charged in Death of Idaho Boy Found in Canal August 18, 2009 BOISE, Idaho — The mother of an 8-year-old boy found dead in an Idaho canal and her live-in boyfriend have been indicted on first-degree murder charges by an Ada County grand jury. Thirty-year-old Melissa Jenkins and her boyfriend, 36-year-old Daniel Ehrlick Jr., were arrested Tuesday in the death of Jenkins' son, Robert Manwill. The two also face charges on accusations that they failed to report the boy's death. Robert was missing for more than a week before his body was found floating in the canal Aug....

Eight-year-old Robert Manwill was killed by Daniel Erhlick Jr., who tortured and beat him to death while Manwill's mother, Melissa Jenkins, hid her son from government authorities who might have helped him. SNIP Jenkins, 30, a mother of three, had knowledge of the beatings and repeatedly hid her son from authorities and others who might have intervened. SNIP Prosecutors have 60 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

BOISE, Idaho — The mother of an 8-year-old boy found dead in an Idaho canal and her live-in boyfriend have been indicted by an Ada County grand jury on first-degree murder charges. Thirty-year-old Melissa Jenkins and her boyfriend, 36-year-old Daniel Ehrlick Jr., were arrested Tuesday in connection with the death of Jenkins' son, Robert Manwill.

Police say the boy was not abducted by a stranger, and the coroner has ruled his death was not an accident. As Boise Deputy Police Chief Jim Kerns promised Wednesday to "determine how and when Robert Manwill died, and who is responsible," his comments narrowed the field of suspects to people who knew Robert. Police still won't name any suspects or even people of interest. Kerns said police would not prematurely release anything that could "compromise the legal procedures" and the integrity of their case.

Police say a body pulled from an Ada County canal matches the size and age of an 8-year-old boy who disappeared more than a week ago. Boise Deputy Chief Jim Kerns said Monday the Ada County coroner had not identified the body and was performing an autopsy. Kerns said the family of Robert Manwill had been notified. The child reportedly disappeared July 24 after leaving his mother's apartment in Boise, where he was visiting. The boy's father, Charles Manwill, lives in New Plymouth and has had custody since 2008. Police said Friday new evidence in the case indicated suspicious circumstances...

BOISE - A body has been pulled from an area canal. Ada County Dispatchers tell NewsChannel 7, they received a report it's a male juvenile's body. The body was pulled from a canal near Deer Flat and Cloverdale in the Kuna area. A temporary command post is being set up in the area. Boise Police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower tells NewsChannel 7 and KTVB.COM that the previously scheduled 2pm news conference on the search for Robert Manwill has been cancelled, in order to further investigate the body found in the canal.

Boise police are working Tuesday to recreate a detailed timeline of what Robert Manwill did on Friday — the day the 8-year-old disappeared and sparked a more than three-day intensive search in his neighborhood around south Vista Boulevard in Southwest Boise. Police now say the boy was last seen wearing a faded blue T-shirt with a Superman logo, blue jeans and dark tennis shoes. He went missing from a playground at his mother's apartment complex near the intersection of Vista and Targee Street — about half a mile from Interstate 84 and even closer to the New York Canal. Police,...