New commission members named

Kootenai County commissioner appointed two new members to the Planning Commission this week.

Hayden Lake attorney Kathlene Kolts and Charlie Rens, a Hayden real estate agent and home builder, will attend their first commission meeting Monday.

Current Commissioner Dwight Hamilton was reappointed.

The volunteer commission had two vacancies after Commissioners Keith Dixon and Gerry House resigned.

Planning Director Rand Wichman said the commission is beginning to rewrite the county’s comprehensive plan, which is the foundation of all land-use decisions.

TWIN FALLS, Idaho

Death penalty option filed

The Twin Falls County prosecuting attorney has filed an intent to seek the death penalty in the case Jim Junior Nice, accused of killing his three children in December with a mix of rat poison and over-the-counter medication.

Grant Loebs said he made the filing this month to keep open the option to pursue the death penalty. Loebs said if he didn’t file within the 30-day time limit set by law, he would have lost the right to file later.

In the filing, Loebs cited aggravating circumstances and that Nice exhibited an utter disregard for human life.

In January, a 5th District Court judge entered a not guilty plea for Nice, who is charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors allege he poisoned his 6-year-old twin sons, Spencer and Justin Nice, and 2-year-old daughter, Raquel Nice. They were found dead Dec. 21 at their father’s home in southern Idaho.

MISSOULA

Officials say DNA solved ‘76 case

Authorities announced Wednesday that they had solved an Easter 1976 homicide and that the suspect committed suicide just days after giving a DNA sample to investigators.

Neil B. Morris, 55, shot himself in the head on Jan. 11, just 27 hours after he had given a DNA sample to police investigating the April 18, 1976, sexual assault and stabbing death of schoolteacher Verna Joy Kvale, 37. Authorities said Morris had an affair with Kvale on and off for some time before her death.

Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg said prosecutors had enough evidence to prove Morris, a former funeral home director, had committed the killing.

From staff and wire reports