Pair now face federal charges in break-in
SANDPOINT — State charges are being dismissed against two people accused of burglarizing a Ponderay pawn shop last December.
Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall moved to dismiss burglary and grand theft charges against Jennifer Dunnagan Thrasher and Christopher Robin Garlin because they are subject to federal prosecution for the Pawn Now break-in.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms & Explosives probed the burglary because Pawn Now is a federally-licensed gun dealer. More than 30 firearms were allegedly taken in the heist.
First District Judge Steve Verby has granted the state’s motions, court records indicate.
A third suspect in the break-in, Austin Blake Thrasher, remains charged in state court with the burglary and grand theft. His three-day jury trial is set for May.
The trio’s arrest in January for the Pawn Now burglary ultimately uncovered evidence of the killing of Michael Wyatt Smith, a 19-year-old from Hope who went missing in September of last year.
Austin Blake Thrasher, also 19, of Cocolalla, is charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of Smith. Garlin and Jennifer Thrasher, Austin Thrasher’s 22-year-old wife, are charged with accessories to the slaying because they initially withhold knowledge of Smith’s slaying.
Garlin, an 18-year-old from Clark Fork, allegedly confessed to witnessing the murder and Jennifer Thrasher confessed to knowing the whereabouts of Smith’s makeshift grave north of Sandpoint, according to court documents.
Smith was shot in the torso and head in Cocolalla. His grave was discovered in February.
Garlin and Jennifer Thrasher waived their right to preliminary hearings in magistrate court and were bound over to district court to stand trial. They pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to be tried separately in July.
The duo faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the accessory charges. There is no record yet of either suspect being charged in U.S. District Court for the Pawn Now burglary.
Austin Thrasher’s day-long preliminary hearing in his murder case is set for April 2.