'Not a very safe place for kids'

Witnesses say Eldon Samuel III was younger brother’s primary caretaker

COEUR d'ALENE — Various law-enforcement officers, social workers, health care providers and landlords testified Thursday that Eldon Samuel III was his younger brother's caretaker.

Jonathan Samuel, who was 13 when Eldon Samuel killed him in March 2014, had autism and spent a lot of time hiding under his bed. The boys' parents, who were constantly on drugs and fighting, were unable to meet Jonathan Samuel's significant special needs.

More than 20 defense witnesses were called Thursday before Kootenai County jurors in the 1st District Court double-murder trial. Samuel is also being tried for killing his father, 46-year-old Eldon Samuel Jr.

"Jonathan's discipline was left to his brother," said Arvella Bovenkerk, a child protection services worker from Stanislaus County in central California. She had interactions with the family in 2005 and 2006, several years before the father and the two boys moved to North Idaho. Their mother, Tina Samuel, stayed in California after the couple split.

"He was expected to care for him a lot," Bovenkerk said.

She described that as a very "odd" situation to have a brother — who was less than a year older — saddled with that huge responsibility.

A year before the killings in Coeur d'Alene, a sheriff's deputy from Stanislaus County recalled for the jury a trip to the Samuel family home in Modesto. He found the family living in squalor and without power.

The deputy said Samuel was taking care of his brother at that time, watching out for him wherever he went. The home was a dump.

"It was not a very safe place for kids," he said.

Coeur d'Alene Police officer Bradley Wessel and a nurse from Kootenai Health had contact with the family in August 2013, both testifying that Samuel took responsibility for his brother's care. Kootenai County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Nye made the same observation that month. They all agreed the father wasn't in any condition to watch the boys.

Other witnesses Thursday described the father as violent. The defense is seeking to show the killing of Eldon Samuel Jr. was self-defense.

"He was a danger to others," said Dusty Lockett, a Stanislaus County mental health professional. She said it was her opinion that Tina Samuel was abused by the father.

"He was angry and dangerous," said Modesto Police officer Natalia Niles.

"I feel he was a very violent person," said landlord Ernest Crites, of Modesto. He knew the family for three years.

He said Eldon Samuel Jr. was always months behind in rent and had to be evicted. The family did $7,000 in damage to a duplex they were renting from him, punching holes in walls and dumping old food and feces into the walls.

Police officers, both in California and Idaho, have testified that they made regular calls for service to places the Samuels lived.

"If you had to go to that house, it wasn't a surprise," Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Winter said, referring to a place they were living in Waterford. He described a dozen contacts with law enforcement during an 18-month period starting in 2010.

Stanislaus Deputy Bruce Mitchell said he went inside the family's home during one call and found holes in the walls, old food on the table, and described it as "borderline unsafe" for children. He said the Samuels had a bad reputation and were a constant problem.

"I believe he was a danger to his wife," Mitchell testified.

Another landlord for the family, for a place in Modesto, said she had to evict them.

"I felt bad for the kids," said Lynnell DiFrancia. "I never saw them outside."

When she finally got the family out, she had to clean up the mess they left.

"They just literally walked out with the clothes on their backs," DiFrancia recalled.

The family left behind furniture, food, possessions and pets, including some Guinea pigs, hamsters and a cat. Some were dead and some were alive in filthy cages.

Samuel's defense team has worked to show the jurors that his fear of his father and struggles with his brother weren't his only problems.

The defense pointed out that Samuel wanted to get away from his mother, too, because of her drinking, drug use and "aggressiveness."

He asked an officer, in one incident, if there was any place he could go and stay, even if that meant living with another family, including strangers.

The defense plans to call approximately 20 more witnesses today as the trial continues.