Woman charged after Elk City resident's death

GRANGEVILLE (AP) - A 27-year-old northcentral Idaho woman arrested last month following the death of another woman has been formally charged with second-degree murder.

The Lewiston Tribune reported that Tara Rose Mendenhall remains in Idaho County Jail after charges were filed against her in the death of 44-year-old Elk City resident Lora K. Vandenburg.

Police said Mendenhall, Vandenburg and James A. Zillmer had spent Sept. 24 drinking whiskey and shooting guns in the woods near Elk City, a mountain hamlet where State Highway 14 dead-ends in Nez Perce National Forest.

According to authorities, Mendenhall later beat Vandenburg to death that day after becoming enraged that she'd taken some of her makeup, jewelry and a music player.

Mendenhall repeatedly punched Vandenburg while she lay on the ground, picking her up and tossing her back down again, according to witness testimony in 2nd District Court.

"I was telling (Mendenhall) to leave (Vandenburg) alone," Zillmer said. "She was yelling and screaming at her. She was mad."

Another witness, Dixie L. Blundell of Elk City, said Mendenhall was straddling Vandenburg and hitting her.

"Tara said, 'I don't want to hurt you' and then she did it again," Blundell said. "Lora wasn't moving."

Vandenburg died Oct. 5 in the hospital; a doctor said she arrived at the emergency room two weeks earlier "on death's doorstep," according to courtroom testimony.

A doctor testified at Friday's hearing that Vandenburg's blood-alcohol content that day was 0.359, more than four times the legal limit for driving.