Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two set to appear online Monday at lmtribune.com.
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NEW MEADOWS, Idaho — A background check of the man suspected of shooting and killing a New Meadows couple on Oct. 1 did not reveal violent charges pending in Washington against the man, Adams County Sheriff Ryan Zollman said.
Adams County deputy Justin Grob ran the background check on John Hart, 28, of Olympia, less than an hour before he is accused of shooting and killing Rory Mehen, 47, and Sara Mehen, 45, at the Hartland Inn.
The Mehens, who owned the motel, called police after finding a man searching through rooms and drawers in the motel. Grob left the motel at about 12:20 p.m. after talking to the man, who identified himself as Hart, about the incident.
“We have reviewed the contact and confirmed the deputy did everything he was asked to do and did his job properly,” Zollman said.
The background check by Grob, performed on a computer in his patrol car, did not reveal Hart’s pending case in Clark County, Wash., where he is facing two felony assault charges for an August 2021 incident.
Hart was in violation of a condition of his release from a Vancouver, Wash., jail in July by being in Idaho, according to court records obtained by KTVB.
“The only information that came up on Hart was he had a suspended license,” Zollman said, adding that he is unsure why the pending case in Washington did not show up. Hart wasn’t asked to leave Hartland Inn after speaking with Grob, Zollman said.
“The deputy was told (by the Mehens) that it was OK for him to stay,” he said.
At 12:44 p.m., or 24 minutes after Grob left, deputies were again called to the motel where the Mehens were found shot to death in the motel’s main office.
Hart was arrested about an hour after the shooting near Cambridge while driving a car that matched the description of the car witnesses saw the gunman leave in.
A 9mm Glock handgun suspected to have been used in the shootings was found by deputies in weeds along U.S. 95 near Indian Valley.
Hart told an investigator after his arrest that the initial confrontation with the Mehens “made him feel like a thief,” according to a warrant for his arrest.
Hart returned to his motel room after the incident to “prepare for the worst,” at which point he heard the voices of “Pope Gregory” and “Pope John Paul” instructing him to attack the couple, the warrant said.
Hart then went back to the front counter at the motel, where he said he shot the couple.
Hart has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is being held in the Adams County Jail in Council.
His next court appearance is set for Monday at 4:30 p.m. before Adams County Magistrate Judge John Meienhofer.
Adams County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Boyd has said he will seek the death penalty for Hart if he is convicted of the crimes.
— Drew Dodson, The Star News, (McCall), Thursday
Washington judge felt ‘reluctance’ to release New Meadows murder suspect
NEW MEADOWS, Idaho — The man suspected in the shooting deaths of Rory and Sara Mehen, of New Meadows, was released from a Washington jail seven weeks before the shooting, according to court records.
Flowers form a makeshift memorial for the Mehens, the owners of Hartland Inn in New Meadows, who were shot to death on Oct 1.
John Hart, 28, of Olympia, was arrested in his car shortly after the shooting on Oct. 1 near Cambridge along U.S. 95.
Witnesses described the car, which they said was driven by a man who shot the Mehens in the office of the Hartland Inn, which the couple operated.
Hart was released from a Vancouver, Wash., jail on July 22 by Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis in connection with two felony assault charges stemming from an August 2021 incident in Vancouver, Wash.
“I do this with some reluctance, as the charges against Mr. Hart are very serious,” Lewis said in a video recording of the hearing.
On Aug. 9, 2021, Hart attacked the sleeping roommate of a man he met on Grindr, an online dating site for gay men, according to an arrest warrant obtained by KTVB in Boise.
Hart strangled the man until he passed out, punched him in the face and jammed his fingers into the man’s eyes to the point that a nurse said the victim was likely to lose his vision, KTVB reported.
A psychologist who evaluated Hart diagnosed him with schizophrenia and marijuana use disorder following the assault, according to a report obtained by KTVB.
That led to Hart being deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered by Lewis in March to undergo treatment at Western State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital near Tacoma.
However, after more than four months of waiting in jail for a hospital bed to become available, Hart’s defense attorneys asked for the charges to be dismissed, online court records show.
Lewis, who could not be reached for comment, declined that request, but placed Hart on supervised release until a bed at the hospital was available.
“I simply can’t continue to hold him on the expectation that maybe someday they’ll come pick him up,” Lewis said during the July 22 hearing.
The conditions of Hart’s release included checking in with court officials every other week and not leaving southwest Washington without permission from the court, KTVB reported.
Lewis also required Hart to surrender his concealed carry license and barred him from having guns, but it is unclear if he was forced to surrender any guns he owned prior to the assault charges.
Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputies found a 9mm Glock handgun thought to be connected with the Mehen shootings in weeds along U.S. 95 near Indian Valley.
— Drew Dodson, The Star News (McCall), Thursday
