Murder charge against Lewiston man goes forward

A Lewiston man facing first-degree murder charges in the June death of his father was bound over to District Court on Wednesday evening.

Mark L. Hopson, 59, will be arraigned in 2nd District Court in Lewiston on Oct. 8 on the murder charge after Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge Sunil Ramalingam found there was probable cause Hopson committed the crime after a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Hopson allegedly suffocated his father, Billy R. Hopson, 94, on the night of June 7 because Alzheimer’s disease had left his father with no dignity “and he couldn’t watch him any longer,” the younger Hopson said, according to court documents.

Hopson’s sister, Debra Taylor, was at the home at 215 Prospect Ave. in Lewiston on the night of the murder. Taylor testified Wednesday that she had gone to bed early at 8:30 p.m. that night, leaving her brother and father, who were watching TV.

Taylor testified Wednesday her brother came into her room after 11 p.m., turned the light on and woke her up. She knew something was wrong.

“He said he had done something and it had gone bad,” Taylor said Wednesday. “Dad’s gone.”

She thought her brother meant their dad had walked away from the house because of his Alzheimer’s disease.

“Are you with me? I need to know that you are with me,” Taylor testified about her brother’s words to her. “He said that he had to put Dad out of his misery. With the loss of dignity, he just couldn’t stand it.”

Taylor told her brother she was with him, but she did not know what he was asking of her. At the top of the stairs, as the two were about to go downstairs, Taylor testified that Hopson told her he had suffocated their dad.

The two went into Billy Hopson’s room where he lay dead on the floor. The two stood there a minute and talked. Hopson was panicked and upset, Taylor testified.

Hopson took a sheet off the bed because it had blood on it. He put another sheet on the bed, but his hand was bleeding because Billy Hopson had bit him during the struggle, Taylor testified. The two moved their dad from the floor to the bed.

Taylor told the court that her brother said, “He doesn’t look like someone who died in his sleep.” She said her dad’s face was purple, his mouth was open and it looked like he had black eyes. Taylor also testified that her brother looked intoxicated, wild-eyed and not himself.

“I was afraid if he thought I wasn’t with him, I thought he would kill me too,” Taylor said.

Taylor told the court the worst thing her brother told her was, “I thought it would be easy, but he fought like a son of a bitch.”

Taylor testified that her brother also told her that at some point during the struggle, Billy Hopson asked his son “if they could talk about this.”

When her brother went to an upstairs bathroom to tend to his hand, Taylor testified that she went into her room and grabbed her phone and glasses. She ran downstairs. Her dog, Wilson, scratched at the laundry door as she grabbed her purse that held her car keys. She grabbed Wilson by the collar and they left the house.

She first called her brother to tell him she left the house, but the call went straight to voicemail. She then called her daughter and asked her to join her, and then she called 911.

Hopson’s court-appointed public defender, Rick Cuddihy, asked Taylor about the immunity agreement she received from the prosecution that says she will not be charged with any crime for helping move her father’s body, provided she gives truthful testimony. Cuddihy then pointed to statements she made to police that he described as inconsistent statements.

He questioned her about whether her brother used a pillow to suffocate her dad.

“I recall I thought he used a pillow,” she answered.

“Is it possible that you don’t remember what Mark said that night?” Cuddihy asked during cross examination.

“There are some things that are crystal clear,” Taylor said, noting the night was traumatic. “And there are some things that are fuzzy.”

Hopson is in Nez Perce County Jail on a $1,000,000 bond.

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

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