Sentencing in murder case postponed

SANDPOINT — Sentencing is being postponed again in the case of a Priest River man who stabbed his pregnant wife, killing her and their unborn child.

Jeremy Keith Swanson was to be sentenced in 1st District Court on Tuesday, but the hearing was pushed into September because a new public defender has to be appointed.

Swanson was being represented by Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson, who is resigning due to unspecified health reasons.

Swanson remains in custody at the Bonner County Jail.

Swanson is accused of attacking his wife, Jennifer, as she lay in bed last December. Jennifer Bosch-Swanson, 27, was repeatedly stabbed with a kitchen knife and an ice pick. The blitz killed their unborn daughter, who was 15-18 weeks in utero.

Jeremy Swanson, 28, ultimately admitted that the killing was premeditated, according to court documents. He entered into a plea agreement that reduced one of the counts to second-degree murder.

Swanson was to be sentenced in June, but the hearing was postponed after his mother indicated that her son suffered a traumatic brain injury, which could be cited as a mitigating factor at sentencing.

A 2011 University of Michigan study suggested that young adults who suffer brain injuries could be prone to violence later in life.

Swanson was slated to undergo quantitative brain mapping at Neuropathy Northwest in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said he will seek a fixed term of life in prison without parole for the killings.

Defense sentence recommendations have not been disclosed.