Life Sentence For Deadly Prank With Dynamite Idaho Man Tossed Explosive Into Pickup, Killing Driver

The man who pleaded guilty to the dynamite explosion death of a father has been sentenced to life in prison.

Gary Gordon will spend at least 15 years behind bars before being eligible for parole in the Feb. 8 death of Stacey Calhoun of Grangeville, 2nd District Judge George Reinhardt announced.

Earlier this summer, Gordon pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Calhoun, 28, was killed after a stick of dynamite Gordon tossed into the bed of his pickup detonated. Calhoun was hit in the leg by a metal shard and bled to death.

Robert W. Matthews, 19, was sentenced earlier this year to three years - with the court maintaining jurisdiction for 180 days - at the Cottonwood prison for aiding and abetting aggravated arson in connection with Calhoun’s death.

“This is a very sad and difficult situation,” Reinhardt said, conceding investigators concluded Gordon, 25, neither knew nor targeted Calhoun for the attack.

“Mr. Gordon does know the difference between right and wrong and he engaged in a very terrible and dangerous act. He didn’t intend to kill Mr. Calhoun, but that random act has left an entire family with considerable pain and devastation.”

Idaho County Prosecutor Jeff Payne said Gordon had no concern about destroying other people’s property or the physical harm it might cause.

Defense attorney Daren Fales noted a psychological profile of his client revealed an IQ of 66, placing him among the lower third of the population in intelligence.

Fales said Idaho law states any death that occurs in the course of an intended fire or explosion is firstdegree murder. If the law was not written that way, the maximum offense the court would consider is manslaughter, he said.