Booth sentenced in Kirk murder

COEUR d’ALENE — Justin Roy Booth, who pleaded guilty to robbing and murdering Coeur d’Alene resident William “Bo” Kirk in October 2016, will spend at least 30 years in prison.

Booth was sentenced last week in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court for his part in kidnapping Kirk, stealing and burning his pickup truck and shooting to death the 41-year-old father of three, dumping his body in the national forest near Hayden.

District Judge Scott Wayman sentenced Booth to 30 years to life behind bars for one count of first-degree murder, and another 30 years to life behind bars for one count of robbery. Wayman ran the sentences concurrently, which means Booth, 38, could be released after serving 30 years in prison.

Booth pleaded guilty earlier this year to both counts as part of a plea arrangement.

His co-defendant, David Hutto, received back-to-back life sentences with no chance for parole for his role in Kirk’s murder. Booth initially maintained his innocence, blaming Kirk’s murder on Hutto, and told investigators he feared Hutto, whom he met on the internet.

The men, who operated a small engine repair shop together, were accused of killing Kirk by shooting him in the back and dumping his body along Hayden Creek Road in the Panhandle National Forest.

Investigators said Hutto and Booth — a convicted felon on parole for robbery, burglary and theft — kidnapped Kirk from his driveway in Coeur d’Alene after a road rage incident. The men stole Kirk’s debit card, zip-tied his hands and drove him into the forest, where they shot him in the back. Kirk’s new pickup truck was found burning that night on a paved highway north of Hayden, but it wasn’t until three days later that Kirk’s body was discovered.

An 11th-hour guilty plea vacated Booth’s April jury trial. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped three felonies including second-degree kidnapping, arson and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

At the sentencing in Coeur d’Alene, Kirk’s daughter, Chelsea, told the court that the last message she received from her father was a text.

“My last text from my dad was him telling me he loved me,” Chelsea said. “My dad cared for and loved everyone. My dad was loved by everyone.”

Wayman ordered Booth to pay a combined $46,400 restitution to the crime victim’s compensation fund, and for an insurance claim on Kirk’s pickup truck.