Man faces second-degree murder charge

By RALPH BARTHOLDT

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — When Michaela Morton was found dead in 2016, lying on the concrete basement floor of her family’s Cougar Gulch home shortly before her 19th birthday, authorities initially wrote off the death as an overdose.

But her mother never believed it.

“She didn’t kill herself,” Sarah Morton said.

This week authorities arrested a 35-year-old, three-time felon and drug dealer named Larry B. Penkunis for second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a death and two counts of delivering methamphetamine as part of their investigation into Morton’s death.

Penkunis, whose court records show he is a restaurant worker, is in the Kootenai County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

The family was gone that weekend in late September 2016 when Michaela stayed home to take care of the horses and dogs.

She called her mother to ask if she could use her debit card to buy a pizza in town.

“It was a $5 pizza,” Sarah said.

It was the last contact the mom had with her daughter.

“I never heard from her again,” Sarah Morton said.

Michaela’s brother, James, who no longer lived at home, was asked to check on his sister.

He found her on a Sunday evening lying bundled in blankets on the floor downstairs. It appeared she had been there for a day or longer.

“I know my sister very well,” he said. “She doesn’t sleep like that.”

Someone had arranged the blankets, tucking them tightly around her body, he surmised.

Whoever it was didn’t call police when they realized that Michaela may have overdosed, he said.

“They should have at least phoned somebody,” he said. “It’s pretty upsetting.”

Authorities told the family that Michaela had died of a drug overdose, but details of any investigations surrounding the incident were withheld, Sarah said.

A few days after Michaela’s death, Penkunis was arrested for drug delivery. He was sent to prison on a parole violation and released in December 2017.

Sheriff’s office investigators brought their case tying Penkunis to Michaela’s death before a grand jury, which indicted Penkunis this month. His case, which had been sealed until his arrest to prevent releasing sensitive information, was opened after he appeared in court Wednesday.

According to the documents, Michaela had turned Penkunis in to police, including seven grams of his methamphetamine, just days before she was found dead.

Her testimony led to police seizing Penkunis’ property, including his cellphones, which showed evidence of meth sales.

When interviewed by authorities, Penkunis allegedly told investigators he had provided the meth to Michaela, that caused her death, and that “she died in his presence without (the defendant) having reported the death,” according to court records.

His previous felony convictions include a felony DUI, aggravated assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He had two parole violations and was convicted of arson.

“Defendant appears to earn a living by methamphetamine sales,” according to court records filed by the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office.

Penkunis will appear in Coeur d’Alene First District Court for an April 18 arraignment.

The news of the arrest was a welcome break for James Morton, who remembers his sister as working on earning her GED and trying to better herself.

“She was a wonderful person,” he said. “She literally got mixed up in the wrong crowd.”

The family has been waiting almost two years for the investigation to show his sister didn’t commit suicide, James Morton said.

“It’s not who she was,” he said. “It’s not the way she was.”