Boise man pleads not guilty in attempt to kill child accuser

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody after prosecutors accuse him of soliciting someone to have a 7-year-old child kidnapped and killed.

Byron Ely, 60, of Boise was charged on suspicion of lewd conduct with a child younger than age 16, the Idaho Statesman reported.

His trial was scheduled to begin March 17 in Ada County. But it was postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic after the state Supreme Court ordered temporarily postponing the assembly of the jury panel.

Ely is accused of offering to pay someone to have the child and the child's parents killed to ensure he was not convicted of sexual misconduct during the trial, prosecutors said.

The Boise Police Department received a tip from someone who said Ely solicited them for the killings and offered them two vehicles as payment, prosecutors said.

Ely is being held at the Ada County Jail on $6 million bond, which includes $5 million for the solicitation to commit a crime charge and $1 million for the lewd conduct charge.

He is now scheduled to appear in court July 29.