Two men convicted of murder in Colville Reservation double homicide

A Spokane jury found two men guilty Monday of all charges related to the October 2022 killing of Jeremy Neal and Gale Neal in Keller, Wash.

Zachary Holt, 24, and Dezmonique Tenzsley, 35, clasped their hands quietly in U.S. District Court as Judge Thomas Rice read each verdict.

Holt is guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and 16 other counts, including assault and attempted murder of a federal officer. Tenzsley, 35, is guilty of two counts of felony murder in Indian country and 13 other charges.

Their crime spree began with assault and robbery on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Idaho and continued with murder of the Neals during an attempted robbery for money and drugs. During a high-speed chase, Holt shot a Colville Tribal Police officer in the arm. The two men were arrested the next day on a different part of the Colville Indian Reservation.

Holt is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe.

After the jury was dismissed, Holt tilted his head back and exhaled. Tenzsley took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Their sentencings are scheduled for Feb. 26, 2025.

Sentencing for their getaway driver, Curry Pinkham, who signed a plea deal and testified against Holt and Tenzsley, is scheduled for Dec. 4.

James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper’s managing editor.