Final testimony expected today in Samuel trial

COEUR d'ALENE — The Kootenai County jurors in teenager Eldon Samuel III's double-murder trial are on schedule to begin deliberations today.

"I anticipate that will probably happen (Thursday)," 1st District Court Judge Benjamin Simpson told the jury at the end of the day Wednesday.

Samuel's defense lawyers rested their case Wednesday afternoon, and Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh began calling his rebuttal witnesses.

Lawyers from both sides told Simpson they don't believe sequestering the jurors will be necessary.

Testimony from rebuttal witnesses is expected to wrap up early today. Lawyers would then work on jury instructions and deliver their closing arguments after that.

McHugh called teachers from Canfield Middle School to testify about Jonathan Samuel's behavior as a student from the fall of 2013 until he was killed by his older brother on March 24, 2014. Defense witnesses have testified that Jonathan Samuel, who was 13 and had autism, often exhibited aggressive behavior and sometimes targeted teachers.

Teachers at Canfield said they never saw that side of Jonathan Samuel.

"He never was (aggressive) at Canfield," Ginny Welton, a special education teacher from the school, testified Wednesday.

Eldon Samuel III, 16, is charged with first-degree murder for his brother's death. First-degree murder in Idaho is punishable by life in prison. That sentence doesn't have to be a fixed term, meaning a person could get released from prison at some point.

He also is charged with second-degree murder for killing his father, 46-year-old Eldon Samuel Jr.