Prosecution moves to bolster murder case

SANDPOINT - The state plans to bolster its murder case against James Matthew Anderson by introducing evidence of prior violence committed by the defendant.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall filed notice Friday that the state intends to put up evidence at trial that Anderson committed domestic assault in Texas seven years ago, according to court records.

Anderson, 29, is scheduled to be arraigned next month for the second-degree murder of Elvin Joseph "Eli" Holt on Nov. 27, 2008. Holt, 30, was shot to death with a .44-caliber revolver during an argument in Sagle on the night of Thanksgiving.

Anderson was originally charged in the first degree, but a judge ruled on Wednesday that there was insufficient evidence to show the slaying was premeditated.

A second-degree conviction can result in a lifelong prison sentence.

Anderson is also awaiting trial on a misdemeanor battery charge for allegedly helping another man carry out a beating of a close friend of Holt's two months before the shooting. Testimony at Wednesday's preliminary hearing in the murder case suggested Holt went to Anderson's home in response to the battery.

The prosecution plans to introduce evidence that Anderson assaulted a former fiancee in 2002 in Conroe, Texas. A Conroe Police Department report said Anderson hit the woman, threw her to the ground and stomped on her. Two women witnessed the alleged attack and tried to intervene, but were also thrown to the ground, the report said.

Anderson was arrested on suspicion of assault, although the final disposition of the Texas case was not listed in Idaho court records.

Anderson remains held at the Bonner County Jail with bail set at $500,000.'