Idaho man charged with murder escaped. Why was he in a minimum-security prison?

BOISE – A man who was charged with first-degree murder and escaped the Idaho Department of Correction’s custody Thursday was being housed at one of the state’s lowest-security prisons, despite having had a long history of violence and obstructing jail staff.

Court records obtained by the Idaho Statesman showed that Kevin Kuintzle had a litany of charges he acquired while he was incarcerated at the Jerome County Jail. The 33-year-old Twin Falls resident last year was charged with the killing of William Eakin in south-central Idaho after the 84-year-old man was found dead in his home, and was being held at the county jail when he damaged property and threatened staff, Jerome County Capt. Gary Taylor told the Statesman in an email.

Kuintzle at one point said he believed he could do “whatever he wanted” because prosecutors were so focused on his first-degree murder case, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by the Jerome County Sheriff’s Office.

Taylor said the property damage and threats happened “every time” Kuintzle was at the jail. He told the Statesman in an email that since Kuintzle was also in violation of his parole, he was in the Idaho Department of Correction’s custody, but was transferred to the jail for various court hearings related to his first-degree murder charge.

“How in the world they classified him as a minimum to be transferred clear over to the work center in St. Anthony is beyond me,” Taylor told the Statesman on Tuesday. “I have no idea who did … that.”

Kuintzle “walked away” from the St. Anthony Work Camp on Thursday night, IDOC said in a news release. He was spotted around 2:30 p.m. Friday in Idaho Falls, and by 10 p.m., police found and arrested him in Pocatello.

The Idaho Department of Correction didn’t respond to two emails and a phone call seeking comment about why Kuintzle was being housed at the 400-bed minimum-security prison meant for men who are working and typically considered low-risk offenders, according to the state prison system’s website. Taylor said IDOC was aware of Kuintzle’s issues at the Jerome County Jail.

“This whole thing is embarrassing for DOC,” Taylor said. “I’ve had citizens approach me asking me, ‘How on Earth this can happen?’ And I don’t have an answer for them.”

He said that whenever sheriff’s deputies went to pick Kuintzle up for hearings, they’d send several vehicles because of his security risk.

Court records showed Kuintzle was previously living at the Idaho State Correctional Institution and the Idaho State Correctional Center south of Boise, both of which offer medium-security-level custody options. IDOC also didn’t respond to a question asking when Kuintzle was transferred to the St. Anthony Work Camp.

Kuintzle has since been charged with misdemeanor petit theft, according to online court records. He was being held in the Bannock County Jail as of Tuesday, since that’s where the most recent charge of petit theft occurred. Jerome County Sheriff George Oppedyk has called Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt to try and find some answers about what happened, Taylor told the Statesman.

Kuintzle threatened to ‘sucker punch’ guard

In the past 14 months, Kuintzle has threatened jail staff, destroyed state property, injured another man incarcerated at the prison and attempted to sneak contraband into the prison, dozens of court records obtained by the Statesman showed.

While wrapped in a full body restraint at the Jerome County Jail, Kuintzle told the guards that “he could essentially do whatever he wanted” because prosecutors were focused on convicting him on first-degree murder so all his other charges would be dismissed, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Jerome County Sgt. Roger Sedlmayr. He was placed in the full body restraint, known as a WRAP, because he had threatened deputies’ lives, Sedlmayr wrote.

Kuintzle threatened the guard in November, according to the affidavit, noting he was already staring at a lengthy sentence.

He added that he could “sucker punch” one of the guards in the eye.

Just a month prior, Kuintzle barricaded himself inside his cell after he tied strips of his bed sheets to the grate on his door, according to a report written by Jerome County Cpl. Jeremy Osborne. Deputies forced themselves into his cell and during the incident. Kuintzle threatened one of the guards, saying “he would catch him” in the cell block one day, Osborne wrote in his report.

Another report filed last year by the Jerome County Sheriff’s Office described how Kuintzle allegedly punched another man in custody at the jail three times on the side of his head, causing him to lose consciousness and hit his head on the cell door. The man had a 1- to 2-inchlong wound on his head, according to the report.

Kuintzle told guards that the man was a “good dude” but that he had “some demons in him,” and that Kuintzle was performing an exorcism on him by placing his hands on him, according to the report. He was charged with misdemeanor battery, court records showed.

Kuintzle rack up charges for incidents in jail

Kuintzle faces three felonies and two misdemeanors stemming from four criminal cases for incidents at the Jerome County Jail from October 2023 to November 2024, court records showed. The felonies were two counts of injury to jail and one count of introducing major contraband into a correctional facility, according to court records.

When Kuintzle threatened deputies last month, Kuintzle was being transported to the jail for a preliminary hearing he had scheduled in Jerome County. Sheriff’s deputies picked Kuintzle up at the Idaho State Correctional Center in Kuna, according to a report.

He was restrained in the transport van with leg restraints, a harness and an E-Band Restrictor device on his right ankle, which emits an electrical pulse to someone’s skin when activated. Kuintzle pulled the device off his leg during the drive and tampered with it, attempting to expose any electrical wiring, and suggested he’d set the van on fire with the parts of the device “if he had the right tools,” the report said.

When Kuintzle arrived at the jail he refused to be scanned by the jail’s body scanner, prompting deputies to physically move Kuintzle into the device, according to Sedlmayr’s report. Kuintzle then “kicked out his feet onto the scanner” and pushed himself off and back into the deputies, the report said. He was again placed into the WRAP restraint, the report said.

Sedlmayr said Kuintzle continued to resist, and another deputy used a lateral vascular neck restraint on Kuintzle until he began to comply. An involved sergeant’s arm was cut during the incident, the report said.

Hours after Kuintzle arrived at the jail, the deputies were able to scan him and conduct a strip search, and found a bag full of black comb pics.

Sedlmayr wrote in the report that Kuintzle has “prior incidents” of removing his restraints and tampering with devices.

“He tampers with locks and devices using whatever he has at his disposal,” Sedlmayr wrote. “He has used screws, garbage bags, plastic bits and other items.”

Sedlmayr said he believed Kuintzle planned to use the comb pics to remove his restraints, tamper with locks and facilitate or aid in escaping.