Thomas found guilty of murder a second time

COEUR d’ALENE — Before jurors delivered their verdict Friday in the murder trial of a former Nez Perce County Deputy, the judge presiding over the Coeur d’Alene courtroom told the audience he expected them to follow etiquette.

“This has been an arduous and emotional journey,” District Judge Gregory FitzMaurice said. “I expect decorum.”

He cautioned anyone overcome with emotion, “I expect you to leave the courtroom.”

After four days of deliberations, a Kootenai County jury found Joseph Thomas Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the strangling death of his ex-wife Beth Irby-Thomas.

Sobs broke out in the courtroom as family members on both sides of the room in the Juvenile Justice Building in downtown Coeur d’Alene lowered their heads. Some clutched each others’ hands and cried.

The defendant, a former Nez Perce County deputy who was accused of using his belt to strangle his ex-wife in 2011, seemed unmoved. Wearing a black suit, Thomas, 43, showed little emotion sitting next to his attorney Anne Taylor, of Coeur d’Alene, and as FitzMaurice’s clerk read the verdict.

It was the second time in six years that Thomas was found guilty of murder in the death of Irby-Thomas.

The original verdict was overturned by the Idaho Supreme Court which found that evidence relevant to Thomas’ defense was wrongly deemed inadmissible by 2nd District Judge Michael Griffin. Griffin ruled in 2011 that evidence regarding Irby-Thomas’ sexual behavior - that she reportedly liked to be choked while having sex - would not be allowed.

In the two-week retrial in Coeur d’Alene, a location chosen as part of a venue change, Taylor told the jury that it was erotic asphyxiation with the use of a belt, not homicide, that accidentally killed Irby-Thomas as she masturbated.

The jury deliberated at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and did not return its verdict until around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon.

The four-day deliberation is an anomaly that many practicing law in Idaho had not previously experienced.

“I have never personally experienced a jury out for this length of time,” said 2nd District Judge Jay P. Gaskill, who has practiced law for 33 years including 13 years as a magistrate and three years as a district judge.

With 16 years on the bench, Second District Judge Jeff Brudie also said the lengthy deliberation was unusual.

“I have never had one go that long,” Brudie said.

Both judges gave kudos to the jury for their staying power.

Thomas, who was serving a minimum of 25 years behind bars before the retrial was ordered, will return to Nez Perce County pending sentencing. FitzMaurice did not set a sentencing date following the verdict.

“I am going to allow counsel to decompress,” he said.

A sentencing date will be arranged later this month.