Judge declines to nullify Brown divorce

SANDPOINT — A judge is declining to nullify the divorce settlement first-degree murder suspect Keith Allen Brown entered into with his former wife.

Brown argued Tyrah Brea Harding violated the terms of the settlement by dropping out of a $5 million civil rights lawsuit they filed against various North Idaho law officers and heirs of the man Brown is accused of shooting to death.

The federal lawsuit alleges law officers slandered the couple and sold the home they were in the process of the purchasing from Leslie Carlton Breaw, who was slain in January 2007.

The suit is pending in U.S. District Court in Idaho.

Harding, who pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in the Breaw slaying, moved to end her four-year-old marriage with Brown after serving nearly two years in jail awaiting trial.

Brown, 48, contested the divorce, but later agreed to settle the matter, according to records in Idaho state court. Under the terms of the agreement, Brown assumed the couple’s debts, while Harding lost any right to proceeds from the federal suit if it proves successful.

But Harding, 27, signed a stipulation to dismiss the federal litigation, which Brown argued was a violation of the divorce settlement terms.

Judge Barbara Buchanan ruled on Wednesday Harding’s action was not a sufficient basis to set aside the divorce decree, court records show.

Brown remains held at the Bonner County Jail and is scheduled to be tried early this year. He denies murdering Breaw, maintaining that the 48-year-old was shot to death accidentally during a struggle over a weapon.

Harding had been free until violating the terms of her probation last month. Further proceedings in Harding’s case are pending.