A fugitive shot by an Idaho State Police corporal claims he was driving away from the man when shots were fired. 

“Why did you shoot us in the heads while we were driving away from you. (sic) That’s not protocol," Mark Marion Maykopet, 24, wrote of Cpl Dan Howard in a letter sent to The Spokesman-Review from the Kootenai County Jail. Maykopet also claims he was unarmed, but investigators say they found two firearms in his vehicle.

Maykopet was married to Christie O’Leary Little, 40, who was killed when Howard fired on the Jeep Cherokee following a high-speed chase initiated after Howard pulled the car over for speeding.

Howard has refused to talk with investigators from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department.

A Kootenai County marriage license shows Little was divorced and refers to her as Christie Ann O’Leary of Butte.

“I love her more than you can imagine,” Maykopet wrote. He said he met her in April when she was released from prison in Butte. “We fell in love. No one wanted to see us happy but we didn’t care.”

Read Alison Boggs' story here.

Past coverage:

Feb. 18: ISP corporal fired fatal shots

Feb 9: Fugitive shot dead by Idaho State Police trooper

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