Crash suspect facing prison term
SANDPOINT — A Sagle man under investigation in a deadly pedestrian collision could be headed to back to prison on an unrelated offense.
The Idaho Department of Correction is recommending that Peter Franklin Goullette be made to serve a suspended prison sentence that was imposed in an unlawful weapon possession case, 1st District Court records show. Goulette is accused of violating his probation in that case by using marijuana and failing to attend an anger management class.
Goullette, 22, denied the violations during a hearing on Monday, setting the stage for an evidentiary hearing on Aug. 22.
Goullette is free on $5,000 bail while the case is pending, court records indicate.
Goulette was arrested on the probation violations following the June 30 pedestrian collision, which killed one woman and injured another.
Idaho State Police said Goullette was driving southbound on McGhee Road in a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck when he struck the two women, who are also headed southbound.
Katherine K. Stelzer, a 61-year-old from Mead, Wash., died at the scene. Zualita L. Updike, 50, of Clark Fork, was injured and taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Updike is no longer a patient at Sacred Heart, a hospital official said on Wednesday.
Both women were on a break from their jobs at Litehouse Foods.
The deadly collision remains under investigation, Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said on Wednesday.
Goullette’s is accused of possessing and being under the influence of pot at the time of the crash, although Goullette said he hadn’t used the drug for two to three weeks, according to court records. A urinalysis detected THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot, in Goullette’s system.
Goullette’s probation and parole officer, Dan Lorden, noted in the probation violation report that Goullette still has difficulty maintaining his anger.
“Mr. Goullette has shown he is an aggressive driver. I have personally witnessed him drive in an aggressive manner,” Lorden wrote.
Lorden contends Goullette appears to be a danger to community and cited the pedestrian collision as an example of that danger.
“The Idaho Department of Correction has offered Goullette countless opportunities for change with little success. Mr. Goullette has exhausted his options,” Lorden said in the report.
As a result, IDOC is recommending Goullette serve a one- to three-year prison term that was suspended in the weapons possession case. Goullette allegedly possessed a 9-millimeter pistol and a .22-caliber revolver when he was being investigated for allegedly threatening to shoot somebody in April of last year. Goullette is barred from possessing firearms due to a burglary conviction dating back to 2012.
Goullette served about four months in prison on the weapons charge before being released onto probation. Within days of his release, however, he was accused violating his probation by using alcohol, patronizing a bar and possessing knives, court records indicate. Goullette was ultimately allowed to remain on probation.
Goullette was later arrested for battery, resisting arrest and racing on a public roadway following a road rage incident that culminated in gunfire in a crowded parking lot at Super 1 in Sandpoint.
Goullette allegedly confronted another motorist who he said was driving dangerously, prompting the other motorist to draw and discharge a pistol. Goullette was not struck by the gunfire. He pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and the battery charge was amended to disturbing the peace and the racing charge was dismissed, court records indicate.