Witnesses: Samuel's father 'upset' outside home day of killings

COEUR d'ALENE — Neighbors who lived directly across the street from Eldon Samuel III's family in Coeur d'Alene testified Tuesday they never saw him, or his brother, playing outside. No ballgames, no bike riding, no buddies coming over after school.

"I'm a people watcher by nature," said James Knott, who was living at 1310 N. First St. on March 24, 2014, the day Samuel killed his brother and father. The Samuels lived at 1311 N. First St.

Knott was one of the first defense witnesses called in Samuel's trial in 1st District Court. Kootenai County prosecutors rested their case Tuesday afternoon.

Knott testified that he heard a possible gunshot outside earlier in the day before Eldon Samuel Jr., 46, and Jonathan Samuel, 13, were shot and killed. He recalled observing more activity than usual at the Samuel home that day, with vehicles and people coming and going.

Samuel's defense has argued his father was outside and fired a gun before the killings, and was agitated by zombies he believed were outside. The defense believes the father was killed in self-defense, as Samuel told authorities his father had been hitting him in the chest and threatening to kick him out of the house prior to the shootings.

Before the killings, Knott said he looked out a window in his home and saw the father "roaming around in the yard."

"He was pacing," he said. It looked like "something was on his mind."

Oddly, he testified, he had been watching "The Walking Dead," a zombie apocalypse TV show, the night of the killings. He didn't hear the shots fired inside the run-down and filthy home across the street because his 42-inch TV's volume was up so high that night as he watched "The Walking Dead," he said.

Knott's wife, LeAnn, also testfied, saying she also saw Samuel's father outside "talking to himself," and he appeared "clearly upset" before the killings.

He was "kicking the rocks in the driveway," she told jurors. He was "yelling, and had his head down."

Most days, the Knotts observed, Samuel's father would sit on the porch and chain smoke.

"Could you ever see into their house?" Public Defender Linda Payne asked LeAnn Knott.

"No," Knott replied. The shades were always drawn, she said.

She never observed the boys leaving the house unless they were with their father. She saw school buses come and go during the weekdays, but she never saw who got on or off.

The first defense witness of the day was a Modesto, Calif., police officer who told the court he arrested Samuel's father in 2005 for domestic violence and making threats. Eldon Samuel Jr. moved to North Idaho with his boys from California.

The officer spent far more of his time sitting on the witness stand answering questions from lawyers while outside the presence of the jury. Judge Benjamin Simpson ruled that defense witnesses can't describe specific instances of Eldon Samuel Jr. being violent.

Samuel, who was 14 at the time of the killings and is now 16, is being tried as an adult. He is charged with second-degree murder for his father's killing and first-degree murder for his brother's.

The trial continues today, with more defense witnesses. Samuel's defense plans to call his mother, Tina Samuel, to testify during the trial. She was not living with the father and two boys in March 2014.