The suspected shooter in a series of killings in Moscow last Saturday pleaded not guilty Friday to one count of felony eluding in Whitman County. He also declined to waive the formal extradition process that will bring him back to Moscow where he faces several murder charges.
Suspected shooter John Lee
John Lee, 29, will now move through the legal process for his eluding charge in Washington while Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has 30 days to request the extradition of Lee to face three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder in Idaho.
Lee is suspected to have shot and killed his adopted mother, landlord and a family acquaintance, as well as attempting to kill a fourth person, Saturday. Police said he fled the crime scenes to Whitman County where he led police on a high-speed chase.
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According to Whitman County prosecutor Denis Tracy, Bill Thompson, Latah County prosecutor, will give materials pertinent to Lee’s murder charges to Otter’s office for review, where Otter is expected to formally ask Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to extradite Lee back to Idaho.
“If everything’s in order then the governor of this state, Governor Inslee, will issue what’s called a warrant of extradition directing that Mr. Lee be turned over to the officials in Idaho,” Tracy said. “It’s also then up to Governor Inslee to decide whether the local charges here (eluding) will be resolved before Mr. Lee is actually turned over.”
Tracy said he still intends to carry out prosecution for Lee’s eluding charge although there is a chance Lee will be extradited at the governor’s request before court proceedings for the charge conclude. In that case, he said the eluding charge would have to be put on hold.
Tracy also acknowledged the legitimacy of public concern about Lee being held in Washington for a “relatively low-level felony” when he faces much more serious charges across the border.
“If at any point my prosecution were to cause a problem with the felony case I would absolutely acquiesce to a request from Moscow to drop my case,” he said. “But that’s not the situation that’s going on.”
Meanwhile, Lee is still being held on suicide watch and without bail at Whitman County Jail. Court proceedings are slated to continue for the eluding charge because he pleaded innocent. A pretrial hearing is scheduled at 10 a.m. Jan. 30, a readiness trial is scheduled at 10 a.m. March 6 and Lee’s jury trial is arranged for 9 a.m. March 16.
Tracy said it is typical for an interstate extradition process to take about 30 days because there is a lot of paperwork and communication exchanged between the states. Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier scheduled a brief hearing for 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 17, to see if Gov. Inslee issued a warrant for Lee’s extradition.
Amber Emery can be reached at [email protected]
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said Lee pleaded innocent. The plea was not guilty.