Hopson told sister he smothered father

A Lewiston man charged with first-degree murder allegedly killed his father suffering from Alzheimer’s disease to “put his dad out of his misery,” court records said.

Police say Mark L. Hopson, 59, suffocated his father, Billy R. Hopson, 94, with a pillow because his dad “had no dignity left and he couldn’t watch him any longer.”

Hopson was arraigned by video in Nez Perce County Magistrate Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Judge Karin Seubert set Hopson’s bond at $1 million and set a preliminary hearing in the case for June 17 with an alternate preliminary hearing date set for June 19.

The maximum penalty for first-degree murder in Idaho is either life in prison or death and a $50,000 fine.

Police say Debra Taylor, Mark Hopson’s sister, called police Sunday night to tell them her brother killed their father. Mark Hopson told Taylor he suffocated their father in his bed, court records said.

Taylor told police “Mark told her he thought he could just suffocate him with a pillow and everybody would have thought he just passed away in his sleep but Billy fought back and bit Mark on the hand,” court records said.

Taylor, Mark and Billy Hopson were at their home at 215 Prospect Ave. in Lewiston watching TV on Sunday night when Taylor went to bed at about 8:30 p.m. Mark and Billy continued watching TV. At 11 p.m., Mark came into Taylor’s bedroom, turned on the light, woke her up and asked her “if she was with him,” court records said.

Hopson then told his sister that “their dad ‘was gone.’ ” Taylor thought at first that their father had gotten out of the house, but Hopson then told her he suffocated him with a pillow.

The two then went downstairs to their father’s bedroom, where he was lying on the floor next to the bed. Hopson again asked Taylor “if she was with him.” Hopson then changed the fitted sheet that had blood on it, but got blood on the new sheet, which he tried to clean with a wet hand towel, court records said.

Hopson asked his sister to help him lift their father back into the bed, which she did because she knew Hopson “was intoxicated and she was afraid he would harm her since she knew what he had done.”

Hopson’s hand was bleeding, so Taylor offered to get a bandage. She retrieved a first-aid kit, her purse, her cellphone and her dog before she left the house, got into her car and drove down the street to call police, court records said.

As Lewiston Police Officer Roman Seipert arrived at the home, he could see Hopson bent over his father holding a rag in his hand. Police announced their presence and Hopson “casually walked past them toward the kitchen while officers were still outside,” court records said.

Police entered the home by force and found Billy Hopson deceased in the master bedroom, but did not see Mark Hopson in the residence. Lewiston Cpl. Chris Reese forced entry into the home from a side entrance and saw Hopson go toward the kitchen, leaving a bloody rag on the kitchen island,” court records said.

Police located Hopson hiding in the bushes next to the house, but he was not cooperative and they had to deploy their stun gun to take him into custody.

Hopson had blood stains on his shirt, pants and shoes, a bandage on his right ring finger and scratches on the other fingers on his right hand. There was a laceration on his right ring finger that was consistent with a bite, and it was still bleeding when police took him to the station, according to court records.

At the murder scene, there was a pillow with blood stains and blood stains on the floor that someone tried to clean up, and there was a bloody hand towel on the floor next to the body. Injuries were visible on Billy Hopson’s body that indicated “it was plausible Billy had been in a struggle with Mark.”

“Mark made a confession to Debra Taylor he had ‘smothered’ Billy because he had no dignity left and could not watch him like this any longer,” court records said. “He also told Debra he wanted to smother him to make it look like he just died in his sleep. When Mark attempted to suffocate him, Billy fought back and bit him. These statements indicate malice aforethought.”

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.