Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Statements made by a woman who feared she was being stalked should be allowed as evidence in the first-degree murder trial of her estranged husband in Idaho, prosecutors said.
Rachael Anderson, a 40-year-old mother of four from Clarkston, Wash., was in the process of getting a divorce when she disappeared on April 16, 2010.
Authorities say she was lured to a Moscow, Idaho, auto repair shop owned by defendant Charles A. Capone where she was drugged and killed. Her body hasn't been found.
The Latah County Prosecutor's Office earlier this week challenged motions filed by attorneys for Capone seeking to keep the statements out of the trial, The Lewiston Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/1dRAHKE ).
Capone's attorneys contend that statements Anderson made would be hearsay unless she could be called to testify. Prosecutors counter that the statements should be considered as context for the actions of others.
"Because Rachael Anderson's statement to friends, family members and acquaintances, about her fears, perceptions or events, and beliefs that Mr. Capone was stalking her were not made or elicited for the purposes of prosecution, the statements are non-testimonial," prosecutors wrote in a motion to have the statements included in the trial.
It's unclear when 2nd District Judge Michael J. Griffin will make a ruling.
In May, Capone and David C. Stone were charged with first-degree murder, failure to notify a coroner or law enforcement officer about a death, and conspiracy to commit both of those crimes.
Capone has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Mark Monson, has argued there's no evidence of Anderson's death in Idaho, leaving authorities with speculation and conjecture.
In December, Stone pleaded guilty to failure to notify law enforcement about a death.
The plea on the lesser charge is part of a deal that calls for him to testify at Capone's trial. If a judge accepts the deal, Stone will be sentenced to seven years in jail, and the murder charge against him will be dropped.
Latah County Prosecutor William Thompson Jr. has said detectives interviewed Stone and believe he is not responsible for Anderson's death but helped cover it up.
Thompson said a search late last year of the Snake River west of Clarkston was related, in part, to what Stone told investigators.
Capone is being held in the Latah County Jail with a trial scheduled to start June 23.
___
Information from: Lewiston Tribune, http://www.lmtribune.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
