Dale Shackelford

Case overview

Dale Carter Shackelford was convicted for the 1999 slayings of Donna Fontaine and Fred Palahniuk. He was convicted in Latah County for two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree arson, preparing false evidence, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit arson. The jury found that he planned and executed the murders of his ex-wife and her boyfriend on May 29, 1999, and that he set fire to the building where the bodies were found. The jury also found that he fabricated false evidence and conspired with his fiancee, Sonja Abitz, and her mother, Mary Abitz, to commit the murders.

Timeline

• May 29, 1999 — Donna Fontaine and Fred Palahniuk were shot and their bodies were burned in a garage on property owned by Fontaine’s brother, Gary Fontaine.
• November 1999 — Robin Eckmann began working on the case.
• November 7, 2000 — The jury visited the scene of the deaths of Donna Fontaine and Fred Palahniuk.

The offence

On May 29, 1999, Donna Fontaine and Fred Palahniuk were killed at a wooded Latah County site where Donna Fontaine and her family were building a house. The jury found that Shackelford planned and executed the murders and set fire to the building where the bodies were found. Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies found their charred bodies in the ashes of the garage-dwelling on the property.

The prosecution contended that Shackelford killed Donna Fontaine to escape a 30-year-to-life sentence on rape charges she had filed against him in Missouri. The prosecution also argued that Shackelford hid his presence in Idaho from Fontaine, ambushed her and Palahniuk, and killed them with her shotgun and her .32-caliber handgun. Forensic experts determined that Fontaine and Palahniuk died of bullet and shotgun wounds at the wooded Latah County site.

Victims

• Donna Fontaine, 45 (also listed as 44), a Missouri lawyer.
• Fred Palahniuk, 59, a retired Newman Lake man.

Arrest / investigation background

The trial included two states (Missouri and Idaho), 64 witnesses, and hundreds of pieces of evidence. The prosecution listed 250 potential witnesses and filed more than 16,000 pages of material.

The jury did nearly two days of deliberation to find that Shackelford planned and executed the murders of his ex-wife and her boy friend on May 29, 1999, in a remote corner of Latah County. The jury ruled that Shackelford fabricated false evidence, set fire to the building where the bodies were found, and conspired with Sonja Abitz and Mary Abitz to commit the murders.

Trial

Dale Carter Shackelford was on trial in Latah County 2nd District Court for the murders and arson.

Charges and verdicts

He was convicted of:

• Two counts of first-degree murder
• First-degree arson
• Preparing false evidence
• Conspiracy to commit murder
• Conspiracy to commit arson

He faced the death penalty if convicted of the murders. In court, jurors were individually polled on each verdict, and they said the word “guilty” 72 times.

How the prosecution framed the case

The prosecution argued that Shackelford killed Fontaine to escape a 30-year-to-life sentence on rape charges she had filed against him in Missouri. The prosecution contended that Shackelford hid his presence in Idaho from Fontaine, ambushed her and Palahniuk, and killed them with her shotgun and her .32-caliber handgun. The prosecution presented circumstantial evidence, including threats Shackelford made to his ex-wife and the testimony of two different lovers that, at his bidding, they tried to kill Donna Fontaine.

While the jury deliberated, they did not know that Shackelford was several hundred feet away in a jail cell awaiting their decision.

Defence arguments

Shackelford’s attorneys argued that at the time of the murders, their client was miles away in Lewiston checking on his long-haul truck.

The attorneys also suggested that the deaths were a murder-suicide performed by the couple or an accidental shooting involving Brian Abitz, Sonja’s teenage brother. On sentencing, the prosecution’s contention that Shackelford killed Fontaine to escape rape charges was directly tied to the case.

Names and roles of other charged individuals

Shackelford’s fiancee, Sonja Abitz, 31, of Kendrick, and her mother, Mary Abitz, 54, of Kendrick were charged as co-conspirators. The charges against them were:

• Conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree
• Conspiracy to commit arson in the first degree
• Preparing false evidence

Perjury charges against John Abitz, 56, were dropped.

Jury visit and security measures

After performing parts of jury selection behind closed doors in October, Judge John Stegner decided to close another portion of the double murder trial from public view. On Monday (November 7, 2000), the jury visited the scene outside of Kendrick to see where the fire occurred and where the bodies and two guns were found. The jurors also saw where sheriff’s deputies found Fontaine’s truck and spent shotgun shells.

The judge chose to close the visit to the public and the press for security reasons. The only people present were the jury, the judge, the prosecution and defense attorneys and Dale Shackelford. Sheriff’s deputies in plain clothes maintained a security perimeter, and the judge allowed the jury to view evidence privately.

Witness testimony mentioned

Mary Abitz’s brother, Ted Meske, testified that he heard gun shots on the day of the alleged murders.

Sentencing

The prosecutor said her office would pursue the death penalty. On the day of the verdict, Second District Court Judge John Stegner told the jury:

“You have fulfilled an important obligation and I can't thank you enough.”

Judge John Stegner decided Shackelford’s sentence would be in June. The case outcome was that he was sentenced to death on October 25, 2001.

Lead prosecutor Robin Eckmann was pleased with the verdict. She said:

“I was very confident in the evidence,”

Co-counsel Rich Christensen said:

“This is by far the most complex and compelling trial I've ever been involved in,”

and also stated:

“But there's no real congratulations to be had because two people are dead.”

Appeals / outcome

No appeal outcome was included. The legal outcome recorded was sentencing to death on October 25, 2001.

Other details

• Shackelford did not flinch when he heard he had been found guilty.
• Shackelford’s age was listed as 38 in relation to the trial.
• Shackelford was described as a Missouri truck driver, and he had been running a trucking business in Ironton, Missouri.
• The jury deliberated for nearly two days.
• Shackelford’s lawyers said the trial was difficult and cited “Time, distance and volume of information” as making it complicated. Defence attorney D. Ray Barker said:

  “Time, distance and volume of information”

• Defence attorney Steve Mahaffy said:
  • that the prosecution listed 250 potential witnesses and filed more than 16,000 pages of material, further complicating the defence’s work
• The defence also argued that Donna Fontaine was the only witness against Shackelford on a rape charge she lodged in Missouri for an incident shortly before the two divorced in 1998.
• Authorities contended that was why Shackelford killed her.
• The pair met while Shackelford was serving a prison sentence for sodomy and Fontaine was teaching a junior college class for inmates.
• The trial attorneys estimated that, because of the complicated evidence and the number of witnesses, the trial could last another eight weeks.
• During the verdict process, Shackelford wore a loose gray jacket and black pants and had a leg brace that would lock up if he tried to run.
• Mahaffy concealed Shackelford’s incarceration from the jurors by bringing him clean dress shirts each day and helping him choose from among a few simple suits.
• Sheriff’s deputies and courthouse workers accepted pats on the back and handshakes from prosecuting attorneys and co-counsel.
• The case included a mention that Shackelford would “decide Shackelford’s sentence in June,” and the recorded sentence was death on October 25, 2001.
• Gary Fontaine owned the property where the bodies were burned.
• The jury was traveling to the site outside of Kendrick to see where the fire occurred and where the bodies and two guns were found.
• The Latah County prosecutor stated that his office would pursue the death penalty.