Hearing reset in Cocolalla shooting
SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is being reset in the case of a Cocolalla man accused of shooting his adult son to death last fall.
Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall and Chief Deputy Public Defender Janet Whitney moved jointly to postpone Wednesday’s hearing because James Michael Costello Sr. was being held at the Kootenai County Jail, which has prevented Whitney from meeting with her client. The attorneys also note that discovery in the case is still ongoing, according to court records.
The hearing, in which a judge determines if there’s sufficient evidence to justify a trial in 1st District Court, has been rescheduled for July 3 in Bonner County Magistrate Court. He remains jailed with bail set at $1 million.
The elder Costello, 72, is accused of killing his son inside a converted municipal transit bus they shared off Cocolalla Loop Road on Nov. 10 or Nov. 11, 2018. The act of filicide was discovered after Costello was arrested for felony eluding and misdemeanor driving under the influence in Kootenai County on Nov. 11. Costello reportedly made remarks which prompted authorities in Bonner County to conduct welfare check on the younger Costello, who was found dead inside the bus.
Counsel for Costello in the Kootenai County case is recommending that he be prosecuted for murder in Bonner County before going on trial in Coeur d’Alene, 1st District Court records indicate.
Bonner County sheriff’s investigators contend the killing was premeditated because the elder Costello disabled a surveillance system on the bus before the shooting. Costello also allegedly gave a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol to a man, who turned it over to authorities because he believed Costello was attempting to frame him for the killing, according to court documents.
The younger Costello, who was in his early 40s at the time of his death, is described in court records as the elder Costello’s caregiver.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.