Utt sought in Trestle Creek slaying

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man is wanted for murder in connection with the death of an elderly woman on Wednesday.

Nathan Lane Utt, the suspect, is wanted for first-degree murder. He is 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds. He may be wearing a blue jacket or a full-length green trench coat and is known to carry a backpack.

Utt, 41, is considered armed and dangerous and caution should be taken by those who encounter him, sheriff’s officials said.

Bonner County sheriff’s detectives would like to speak with anyone who has had recent contact with Utt. He may have been seen or possibly picked up while hitchhiking on Highway 200 at Trestle Creek prior to 5 p.m., sheriff’s officials said.

The murder victim’s name was not released on Thursday.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall confirmed the murder investigation on Thursday, but declined to provide any details.

Bonner County sheriff’s officials were reluctant on Thursday to acknowledge the murder or the fact that a suspected killer was on the loose. Neither Sheriff Daryl Wheeler nor Det. Sgt. Gary Johnston responded to inquiries about the killing.

The sheriff’s office ultimately released an after-hours statement acknowledging a murder occurred and that Utt was wanted for arrest.

Other efforts to conceal the killing from public knowledge included redacting the call from the Bonner 911 dispatch log and amending the dispatch website to remove fire and EMS reports, which can sometimes shed light on incidents officials won’t discuss.

Bonner County officials were not successful in their efforts, however. They were unable to scrub a cached version of the EMS run log from the Internet, which indicated that Clark Fork Ambulance was summoned to the 1600 block of Trestle Creek Road. The ambulance service waved off a paramedic because the patient was “code black,” which is EMS vernacular for a dead person. The service further reported that it was withdrawing from the scene because of the presence of evidence in the form of shell casings, according to the cached run report.

Utt was convicted of first-degree stalking in 2008 for allegedly harassing a woman for several years, according to 1st District Court records. Court records in the case described him as a diagnosed schizophrenic with a hearing impairment. Utt also has misdemeanor drug convictions, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.