Standish sentenced to 15 years

COEUR d'ALENE - A 49-year-old man was sentenced in Kootenai County District Court Thursday to 15 years in prison in connection with a November kidnapping incident.

Douglas Standish, who will be eligible for parole after six years, kidnapped his ex-girlfriend from her Coeur d'Alene home at gunpoint on Nov. 4 and held her against her will for several hours. While in her car, the woman was able to convince Standish she needed to file paperwork at a Coeur d'Alene attorney's office. When the two arrived, the woman got out of the car and Standish drove away.

Standish, a pilot, was able to elude police for six days by sleeping in a barrel on Tubbs Hill at night and going to The Resort Aviation pilot lounge during the day. Coeur d'Alene Police Department detectives were eventually alerted by a boat owner on the F dock of The Coeur d'Alene Resort marina that Standish was hiding in his boat. He was arrested without incident.

Standish was sentenced by Judge Fred Gibler. Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Jed Whitaker, who recommended a 20-year sentence, told Gibler the case was an "extreme" situation and he rarely recommends a "straight prison sentence."

"Every now and then the boogeyman comes and we get a real bad guy," Whitaker said. "This is a real bad guy and society needs to be protected from him."

The woman Standish kidnapped spoke briefly during the hearing, stating that the majority of her statement was included in a letter provided to the judge.

"This is a life sentence for me," the victim said. "There are things that have been taken that I'll never get back. I'm scared all the time."

Standish's two daughters, who reside in Salt Lake City, were in the courtroom during the sentencing. Throughout the hearing, the two young women were in tears and Standish's 20-year-old daughter took the stand to speak on behalf of her father.

"My dad raised me and my sister all by himself," she said. "He gave us a life that most people with two parents don't even get. He's the most amazing dad and has given us the most amazing life."

She continued by stating she visited Standish for a month in Coeur d'Alene while he was living with the victim and that the couple seemed to have a good relationship.

"I don't exactly know what happened but I think my dad has served the time for what he's done," she said through tears, adding that since her father's arrest she has taken over custody of her younger sister. "I could never fill my dad's shoes. We need our dad."

During his closing arguments, Whitaker painted a picture of the November incident, stating that the victim feared for her life. At one point when Standish agreed to let her leave, he said she didn't because she feared she would be shot in the back.

Standish, Whitaker said, beat the victim and zip-tied her. Eventually the two went to an A-Frame cabin Standish had previously broken into and it was there that the woman realized she needed to convince her captor to take her someplace he wouldn't come with her.

However, Standish's defense attorney called into question the lack of evidence supporting claims that the woman was beaten and held against her will. She compared the two to "teenagers in love" and recommended probation.

"There is nothing that shows there was any act of violence," the attorney said. "He intends to return to Salt Lake City to live with his daughters. Eight months in jail is enough. That's plenty of punishment and he punishes himself everyday."

Prior to Gibler issuing his verdict, Standish was given the opportunity to speak and he began by apologizing to his victim, the court and his daughter.

"I did some wrong things that day," Standish said. "I shouldn't have carried a gun with me. I have never been violent with her and I certainly didn't kidnap her."

Gibler said that he considered Standish's Alford plea as a traditional plea of guilty and the two versions of the incident presented to him were "180-degrees apart."

The absence of photos showing the victim's injuries was unusual, Gibler said. But the facts that Standish purchased the gun just days before the incident and then ran after the victim left the vehicle supported the prosecution's presentation of events.

Gibler also ordered Standish to pay back his court fees and gave him 249 days of credit for time served.