Booth also charged in Bo Kirk killing

COEUR d’ALENE — Justin R. Booth, the co-defendant in the murder case of Coeur d’Alene resident William “Bo” Kirk, was charged Friday in Coeur d’Alene magistrate court with four felonies including first-degree murder and kidnapping.

The charges come less than two weeks after David E. Hutto, the man who was with Booth when the couple allegedly kidnapped Kirk, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without a chance for parole.

Booth, 36, appeared via closed-circuit television from the Kootenai County jail, his hair short and closely cropped, and his face stern as Magistrate Judget Timothy Van Valin read the charges and set bond at $2 million.

Van Valin asked Booth his opinion on the bond amount.

“I don’t think much is going to change there, sir,” Booth said.

Van Valin nodded.

“I would agree,” he said.

In addition to murder and kidnapping, Booth faces a charge of first-degree arson, robbery and a felony weapons charge, which could result in a life prison sentence if he is convicted.

According to prosecutors, Hutto and Booth, a convicted felon on parole for robbery, burglary and theft convictions, kidnapped Kirk from his Coeur d’Alene driveway last autumn, stole his debit card, bound him with zip ties and drove him to the hills to kill him.

Later that night, surveillance cameras captured two people in Kirk’s 2015 GMC truck withdrawing cash from Kirk’s account at bank drive-throughs in Dalton Gardens and Hayden. Hours later, the truck was found burning on Rimrock Road north of Hayden. Kirk’s body was discovered three days later in the Coeur d’Alene National Forest along Hayden Creek Road. Authorities said he had been shot to death.

Booth was arrested in conjunction with Kirk’s murder and housed at the Bonner County Jail on a federal firearms charge, although it was not determined whether Booth or Hutto shot Kirk, according to testimony provided at Hutto’s murder trial.

Prosecutor Barry McHugh said his office opted to not charge Booth until after the Hutto case was completed.

“We anticipated he would testify in the trial,” McHugh said.

Because of a plea bargain, Hutto did not go to trial and Booth’s testimony was not required.

U.S. Attorneys dismissed the firearms charge against Booth, and prosecutors filed their own charges.

“Once … the state charges were filed … it made sense for the U.S. Attorney’s Office to dismiss their charge and allow us to move forward,” McHugh said.

A May 2 status conference is scheduled for Booth.