Death penalty sought in double murder case

The Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office filed notice in 2nd District Court Friday that it will seek the death penalty against Richard B. Ross in the double first-degree murder case pending against him.

Sunday is the statutory deadline for the office to file the notice, making Friday the last day for Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman to notify the court that he will pursue a capital case. A news release from his office said there would be no further comment Friday. Coleman also filed a motion for appointment of a death penalty-certified attorney for Ross since his current attorney, Gregory Rauch, doesn’t have that certification.

“Mr. Ross is not a well individual,” Rauch said in a text message to the Lewiston Tribune. “It’s going to cost so much of the Nez Perce County taxpayers money to attempt to put him to death. There is no justice in this.”

Rauch said there will also be more expert testimony from witnesses who will appear at county expense, extra mitigation experts and the mandatory appeals that would kick in if Ross is convicted.

“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said, “and then, well, there’s the human cost.”

Rauch previously attempted to subject Ross to a competency evaluation to determine if he is able to participate in his own defense, but Ross declined to participate. He took the unusual step of waiving his preliminary hearing in December, where the state would have been required to prove that there was probable cause that he committed the murders. He entered not guilty pleas to both charges at his arraignment, and District Judge Mark Monson subsequently set a May 16 trial date.

Ross is charged with the murders of 76-year-old Edwina “Eddy” Devin and her 57-year-old son, Michael Devin, last year. According to court documents, investigators believe Ross smothered, strangled or inflicted violence on Eddy Devin at her Grangeville home the night of Sept. 30, and smothered or inflicted violence on Michael Devin early the next morning in Lewiston before burning his remains in Devin’s truck on Nez Perce Drive. Michael Devin is Ross’ former brother-in-law.

Ross, 56, has also been named as the leading suspect in the strangulation deaths of Bruce and Lynn Peeples at their Grangeville home in 1994. Ross has not been charged in that case, but Coleman’s office has reopened the investigation.

In the death penalty notice, Coleman alleged several of the aggravating factors listed in Idaho law that can qualify a defendant for capital punishment, like committing multiple murders. Other factors include committing murder that is “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity,” and “an utter disregard for human life.”

The notice also alleges that the murders were committed in the “perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, kidnapping or mayhem,” and that Ross “killed, intended a killing, or acted with reckless indifference to human life.”

Finally, the notice said that by his conduct, Ross “exhibited a propensity to commit murder which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.”

Ross is being held without bond in the Nez Perce County jail while he awaits trial. A hearing has been set for April 29 for Monson to hear any pretrial motions.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com.