Murder trial starts next week

COEUR d’ALENE — A man accused of shooting his girlfriend in the head while she was driving, killing her, will stand trial Monday.

Victor A. Claus, 55, of Bonners Ferry, is charged with first degree murder in the death of 45-year-old Melyssa L. Schloe.

He pleaded not guilty last June and remains in jail on $1 million bond.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office responded last April to a multi-vehicle crash on U.S. 95, near Athol.

Schloe was reportedly traveling northbound in a Toyota Tundra when she crossed the center line and sideswiped a motorcycle and another vehicle. Police said Claus was a passenger in the Toyota.

Before the crash, another motorist called 911 to report a possible “rolling” domestic dispute between Claus and Schloe.

Schloe was pronounced dead at the scene, while Claus was transported to Kootenai Health.

When first responders arrived, witnesses said Claus covered his face with his hands and cried that Schloe had shot herself.

She and Claus had been dating for less than a month after meeting online, police said. Claus was reportedly in the process of divorcing another woman.

He told police he and Schloe were arguing about his divorce when she grabbed his handgun off the dashboard, where he said he always kept it, and shot herself.

Dr. Jennifer Nara of the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office said Schloe died from a gunshot wound to the right side of her head.

Nara testified last year that she found no evidence on Schloe’s body of soot or stippling, a pattern of gunshot residue burned into the skin that results from close proximity to a discharged firearm.

Both would be expected in the case of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Nara said.

Police said no gunpowder residue or blood spatter were found on Schloe’s hands.

The jury trial is scheduled to last two weeks.