Anderson gets 10-20 years for Holt killing

SANDPOINT — A Sagle man convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting death of Elvin “Eli” Holt was ordered Friday to serve 20 years in prison.

James Matthew Anderson will have to serve 10 years of the sentence imposed by 1st District Judge Steve Verby before becoming eligible for parole.

“I am very sorry that this happened,” Anderson told Verby as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. “Every day I wake up with sorrow and grief and I have no way to show you that.”

A Bonner County jury ruled last fall that Anderson, 29, intentionally shot Holt without justification during a confrontation outside Anderson’s trailer at the Travel America Park on Nov. 27, 2008. Holt, 30, was shot in the face at point-blank range with a .44-caliber pistol and died at the scene.

Although the state did not have to prove a motive in the case, testimony at trial suggested that Holt and his half brother went to Anderson’s home to confront him about a beating Anderson perpetrated on a friend of Holt’s the previous month.

Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson argued Anderson armed himself with the handgun after being physically attacked and threats were made against his family. Robertson said the weapon discharged accidentally during the confrontation.

“My client wishes this never happened,” said Robertson, who urged the court to either impose a sentence of two to 10 years or place Anderson in the Idaho Department of Correction’s retained jurisdiction program before deciding whether long-term incarceration was warranted.

Prosecutor Louis Marshall maintained Holt’s shooting was an unjustified use of force that was perpetrated with malice aforethought — a conclusion adopted by jurors who sorted through the evidence and testimony at trial.

Marshall recommended a 20- to 30-year sentence and dismissed the defense threat claims as a “self serving” after-the-fact explanation for the violence.

“There’s something in James Anderson that triggers rage,” said Marshall, who pointed to the battery on Holt’s friend and a prior arrest in Texas for a violent domestic assault on a former girlfriend.

Marshall also emphasized that Anderson had a cellular phone in his hand during the dispute and could have called police, but instead called his accomplice in the earlier beating and retrieved the pistol.

Anderson’s supporters, however, refuted the state’s claims that he had a violent streak. His pastor, in-laws and former co-workers described Anderson as a devoted husband and a caring father with a solid work ethic and faith.